Veterinary surveillance blogs
March case highlights
March showed the usual seasonal increase in submissions to both the central laboratory in Edinburgh and to the PM room at Thurso. As lambing and calving continues at pace there are understandably queries about Schmallenberg virus (SBV) presentations, sampling and incidence.…
- SRUC Veterinary Services
- 25/04/2024
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Lamb mortality in the first month of life
With the bulk of flocks getting through their lambing, and the weather not really improving, losses in the first month of life may well be higher this year than most. Gross postmortem examination can provide a quick answer for farmers, with diagnostic testing used to support the diagnosis.…
- SRUC Veterinary Services
- 23/04/2024
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Parasite risks this spring
The weather conditions this spring could increase the risk of coccidiosis with some very high oocyst counts already recorded in earlier born lambs and suckled calves.…
- SRUC Veterinary Services
- 19/04/2024
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Keep a watch out for Salmonella Dublin in beef suckler herds
Although only ten per cent of our diagnoses of Salmonella Dublin come from beef herds, on farms which experience an outbreak, it can have a significant impact on health and mortality rates during a calving season.…
- SRUC Veterinary Services
- 17/04/2024
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Managing nutrition for cows after turn out
Spring is proving challenging for spring calving and lambing so far with the long-range weather forecast looking tricky. Keeping cows and calves at foot inside for longer periods brings challenges with hygiene and disease build up which will need to be very carefully managed.…
- SRUC Veterinary Services
- 15/04/2024
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Campylobacter abortion in sheep
Although too early in the season to finalise the numbers Campylobacter abortion in sheep is a common diagnosis this season, a continuation of trends set in recent years.…
- SRUC Veterinary Services
- 14/04/2024
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Abortion sampling
You may find it useful to review our sampling guides for ovine and bovine abortions this calving and lambing season.…
- SRUC Veterinary Services
- 12/04/2024
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December case highlights
Bacterial pneumonia dominated the December cattle diagnoses, although two high morbidity pneumonia outbreaks associated with IBR were also investigated.…
- SRUC Veterinary Services
- 29/02/2024
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Rickets in hoggs
A suspected case of rickets was submitted for postmortem last week and are waiting for histopathology to confirm the diagnosis. It is worth keeping an eye out for this condition over the next few months.…
- SRUC Veterinary Services
- 26/01/2024
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December liver fluke update
We last sent out our liver fluke forecast and thoughts in November, so thought that now would be a good time to update things given that we are approaching or already in a handling window for ewes in mid pregnancy.…
- SRUC Veterinary Services
- 21/12/2023
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Rearing wagyu cross dairy calves (meeting)
There has been a recent increase in the number of traditional beef suckler units that have started rearing Wagyu cross dairy calves as an addition to their current business. With this, a largely unfamiliar set of challenges regarding the management of these animals arise.…
- SRUC Veterinary Services
- 21/12/2023
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Hypomagnesemia in housed cattle
Over the past few weeks since housing we have diagnosed and discussed several cases of hypomagnesemia in housed beef suckler cows. While usually associated with grazing, a diagnosis of low magnesium causing death or clinical signs should not be discounted in housed animals.…
- SRUC Veterinary Services
- 20/12/2023
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