Janssen Animal Health is advising vets to be on the look out for coccidiosis as the spring lambing season approaches: cases usually rise in March and peak in April and May.

According to the company, some reports also suggest that the incidence of coccidiosis in calves may apparently increase during the grazing months. However, vets are reporting that interpretation of laboratory tests used to confirm diagnosis, such as oocyst count, can be problematic due to the ubiquitous nature of the Eimeria parasite in the UK.

Young animals may be infected by oocysts shed by asymptomatic carriers or infected older cohort animals. Low levels of challenge can help young animals develop immunity but exposure to high oocyst numbers, particularly in combination with stress can lead to clinical and subclinical forms of the disease. Diagnosis can be problematic, particularly in subclinical cases of disease where failure to gain weight is the main presenting sign and in clinical cases the differential diagnoses include all causes of scour in young animals.

Janssen Animal Health has suggested a few indicators that may be useful in identifying cases of coccidiosis. The Vecoxan Coccidiosis Survey in 2008 and 2009 asked farmers about their experiences of coccidiosis and identified that bad weather was a major trigger particularly in lambs; while castration and weaning were also factors in calves. As the parasite life cycle is 21 days, vets should be alert to disease 2-3 weeks after a stressor event.

The company has also suggested a few guidelines to aid interpretation of laboratory results:

• Identification of pathogenic Eimeria species can be suggestive but does not provide conclusive evidence of a causative effect.
• Speciation of Eimeria is useful (not easy in lambs) as there are several non-pathogenic strains which can give high counts without clinical effect
• The number of oocysts will not always correlate with clinical signs
• Low levels of oocysts in faeces are less likely to be significant but some animals can die even while excreting at a low level because shedding occurs after the gut damage has already occurred.
• There is extensive replication and multiplication through the parasite lifecycle - susceptible infected animals will usually shed millions or even billions of oocysts.
• Adult animals that are infected but immune tend to excrete oocysts at a regular low level.
• A pooled sample from at least 10 lambs or calves may give a better indication of the level of infection.
• The history of the farm, the individual patient and the presence of risk factors should be taken into account when interpreting results.

Janssen says Vecoxan (diclazuril) does not interfere with the development of immunity and kills all stages of the parasite in the host.

The National Office of Animal Health has released two films to help industry and consumers understand issues surrounding the use of animal medicines in the food chain.

A film made for the food chain industry titled "Animal Medicines in Food Production - The Food Industry Perspective" has been produced to help industry understand the levels of awareness and concerns that consumers have.

A second film, "Animal Medicines in Food Production - Challenging the Myths" is aimed at consumers and looks at some of the myths surrounding the use of animal medicines in livestock production.

Phil Sketchley, Chief Executive of NOAH, said that while the public was generally supportive of the use of animal medicines in farm production, there was a knowledge gap among consumers about the way that medicines were used: "It was interesting to discover how much people knew about medicines in food production. There were some very positive attitudes among consumers, particularly towards the way British farmers care for their animals. But there were still some areas of concern, for example with the belief among a large number of people that growth hormones were still being used on UK farms, despite the fact they have been banned since 1988.

"The industry film should help people involved in food production understand what consumers are thinking when it comes to animal medicines. Animal health and welfare and ensuring sick animals are treated is a big issue, and food producers and retailers need to be able to communicate clearly with consumers on the subject of animal medicines.

"It is important there is transparency on all issues of animal health and welfare."

New and recent graduates and recently qualified vets have the opportunity to attend a CPD graduate symposium specifically designed to provide practical surgical and management advice and solutions for those embarking on their professional careers.

ProStart course director Colin Whiting BVSc CertSAS MRCVS explained: "We're aiming to fast-track new graduates by sharing experience and helping them through that tricky first year in practice. However, whilst the course has a total of 11 hours CPD, it also has a packed fun and social element including zip wire and surf lessons."

Sponsored by Merial Animal Health, the inaugural ProStart CPD graduate symposium is to be held at Lusty Glaze beach adventure and lecture centre, Newquay, Cornwall, Friday 10th to Sunday 12th October 2008. 

Mr Whiting said: "The event includes a full-on itinerary of lectures and workshops covering aspects of small animal practice including, practice economics, consultation skills, surgical guides for neutering, maximising therapeutic opportunities, and client and staff interactions - with tips from a head nurse. It's also a great opportunity to network with other new graduates.

"The workshops are run by vets experienced in mentoring new graduates in practice, plus full board & lodging and a vibrant social programme including adventure Zip wire, Surf lesson, and entertainment." 

For Merial's Mark Riggs the symposium will help graduates understand the realities of practice environment more quickly. He said: "This course is a neat combination of practical and business skills. Not only will graduates have the chance to sharpen their neutering techniques but advice will be on hand relating to practice finances, client handling and staff management. Delegates will be encouraged to contribute within workshops tackling thorny issues from general practice, before it's wetsuits on and a surf lesson."

Mr Whiting, a referral surgeon and clinical director based at Penmellyn Vet Group in Cornwall has publications and CPD presentations which focus on surgical and practice management topics, and include Surgical Mentoring of Junior Colleagues for In Practice.

"We have a very experienced lecture team, members of which have worked extensively supporting graduates and junior colleagues. Bearing in mind that CPD has to be affordable for practice owners, thanks to our sponsors, Merial, we're able to provide an entire weekend course, including accommodation, for £240+VAT. The venue's proximity to Newquay airport provides easy accessibility for delegates nation-wide and is a fantastic venue for adventure challenges, surfing and various beach activities."

Other members of the ProStart team include Ian Stroud BVSc MRCVS a Medivet partner and new graduate supervisor, and Gareth Cross BVSc, MRCVS who recently lectured to BSAVA congress. Their focus will be promoting safe clinical excellence; illustrating the finances behind a small animal practice; and how graduates can add to a practice in these areas.

If you would like more information on the course or would like to book a place please contact Beverley Archer; beverly.archer@merial.com, or contact your local Merial Territory Manager.

SPVS has launched a Business Club designed to equip members with business knowledge through community-focused CPD, discussion and real world experience sharing.

The club is running a series of 5 sessions targeted at business owners.

Each session will comprise of a 20 minute intro, followed by 40 mins of discussion/Q&A/sharing of experiences around the chosen topic.

Session topics will include succession planning, life insurance and critical illness cover for you and your team.

How to conduct an effective PDR, boosting your revenue and profit share schemes are all in the pipeline. 

SPVS says its Business Club is different to conventional CPD sessions, because it allows participants to share and discuss ideas, talk through problems and ask each other for advice. 

The one-hour sessions will take place on Thursdays, starting at 7:30pm on 13th June, 18th July, 8th August, 19th September, 17th October

In the first, Pete Orpin, BVSc FRCVS from Anval Business Consultancy will present ‘How to nail succession planning’.

SPVS Members: FREE

Non-Members: £15 per session | £50 for bundle of 5

https://spvs.org.uk/spvs-business-club 

Langford Veterinary Services, a fully owned subsidiary of the University of Bristol, has announced the opening of a new standing equine magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) facility at the university's equine centre.

The equine MRI facility completes the diagnostic imaging facilities in the School, which include a 16-slice CT scanner for small animals and standing horses, digital radiography, high-resolution fluoroscopy, diagnostic ultrasound, echocardiography and scintigraphy with a high-resolution 1.5 tesla MRI scanner, available seven days a week.

Evita Busschers, Senior Teaching Fellow and orthopaedic surgeon in the equine centre, said: “We are very grateful to the Trustees of the Alborada Trust and the Langford Trust who have provided generous support for the MRI facility.  The new imaging facility will enable us to provide an even better and more complete service for our equine patients and completes the diagnostic imaging facilities available at the centre.

“Equine MRI offers the ability to image soft tissue structures and identify soft tissue injuries that cannot be demonstrated with other diagnostic imaging modalities and therefore has major additional value in providing a diagnosis and prognosis in lameness evaluations.”

Miles Littlewort, a trustee from the Alborada Trust added: “Donating the money is the easy bit but ensuring that it has been used where it should be and that it has made the necessary difference is much more challenging.  We are so pleased to have had the opportunity to support the Langford Trust and their work to improve animal health and welfare.  We are delighted to have attended the opening, to meet the clinicians who will use the magnificent facility and to learn about the clinical research which gives all veterinary surgeons evidence-based information to enhance diagnosis and treatment for all patients.”

 Defra has published an epidemiology report into the Avian Influenza outbreak confirmed in Oxfordshire on 4 June.
 
The report concludes that, at as of 11th June, the outbreak was confined to a single premises, and there is no evidence of infection in the Protection Zone or of spread to any other premises. However, investigations continue.
 
The report suggests that it is possible that the Highly Pathogenic H7N7 Avian influenza derived from a Low Pathogenic strain already present on the farm. Analysis and investigations are ongoing, and a number of source hypotheses are being considered.
 
Chief Veterinary Officer, Nigel Gibbens, said: "The UK is at a constant but low level of risk of the introduction of Avian Influenza, and the report highlights the need for flock owners and poultry vets to remain vigilant for signs of disease, including the possibility of low pathogenic Avian Influenza. I would encourage all keepers to maintain good quality records and practise high standards of biosecurity."
 
The Protection and Surveillance Zones remain in place. Further surveillance, testing and epidemiological work on this outbreak are ongoing.

The report can be viewed here:

http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/diseases/notifiable/disease/ai/latest-situation/index.htm

The RCVS Mind Matters Initiative and the Veterinary Practice Management Association have launched a series of courses designed to help those in a veterinary practice management role to support colleagues with mental health issues. 

The day-long courses, each running from 9.30-5:00pm, will cover: basic mental health awareness; HR employment regulations and the legal position; the role of the line manager in supporting someone with poor mental health; making reasonable adjustments; planning 'return to work'; and designing and putting in place wellbeing action plans.

The courses will be run by Connecting with People, a social enterprise that develops and delivers high-quality training to employees with healthcare or safeguarding responsibilities. 

Helen Sanderson, former VPMA President and representative on the Mind Matters Initiative Taskforce, said: "If you do one thing this year for your team I strongly recommend it be attending one of these courses. It provided me with invaluable information in recognising stress and depression in a team, as well as giving useful tools and tips on how to discuss and handle situations. I would encourage anyone to attend."

Lizzie Lockett, Director of Mind Matters, added: "It has been wonderful to see the response from the veterinary profession to our mental health awareness training sessions, but we know that managers can face particular challenges in supporting their team's mental health. Meanwhile, line managers play a key role in whether or not someone feels comfortable discussing a mental health issue, goes on to seek help, and, ultimately, returns to the workforce. 

"We therefore designed these courses to provide very practical information for those in managerial positions, covering legal requirements as well as how to implement wellbeing strategies for colleagues."

The courses, which are subsidised by Mind Matters and the VPMA, cost £80 for VPMA members and £120 for non-members.

To book a place, visit the Mind Matters Eventbrite page: www.rcvsmindmatters.eventbrite.com

Boehringer Ingelheim has launched Care and Connect a free online PPID aftercare service for horse owners, designed to help veterinary practices monitor their PPID case load and streamline the case management process.

The new service is part of Boehringer's 'Talk About Laminitis (TAL)' Awareness campaign.

The company says that PPID is the sixth most frequently encountered disease syndrome affecting equids in the UK¹, and the new service should help engage owners and vets post diagnosis, thereby maximising treatment success.

Liz Barrett, equine business manager at Boehringer, said: “PPID is a progressive disease, so it is vital that veterinary surgeons remain at the centre of care, and that horses are monitored carefully following their initial diagnosis. However we recognise the high administrative demand associated with this, and TAL Care and Connect has been designed to reduce this as much as possible.” 

TAL Care and Connect will be offered automatically to horse owners who take advantage of this year’s free* ACTH testing scheme, which will be available from July to November. Equine practices can also offer this aftercare service to all owners of previously diagnosed PPID cases.  

Owners who join TAL Care and Connect will be able to set up a profile for their horse which allows all their ACTH results to be stored in one place. They will then receive the relevant reminders for follow-up ACTH testing which will make it easier for vets to monitor their patient’s progress over time.

In addition, owners can download an independently-written PPID information pack. Edited by Prof. Catherine McGowan with contributions from Dr Jo Ireland, Prof. Andy Durham, David Rendle and Dr Teresa Hollands, the pack includes advice on monitoring and follow-up ACTH tests, feeding, general care of the PPID patient and the link between laminitis and PPID. 

Talk About Laminitis is supported by Redwings, The British Horse Society and World Horse Welfare, and will run from July until the end of October 2015. Horse owners can find out more and obtain their free ACTH voucher code at www.talkaboutlaminitis.co.uk.

For further information contact your local Boehringer territory manager or visit www.talkaboutlaminitis.co.uk. 

*Cost of laboratory test

References

1. National Equine Health Survey 2014

A research project funded by The Horse Trust has found that various types of ocular tumours can be successfully treated with mitomycin C, a cytotoxic antibiotic isolated from a bacterium.

The research concludes that mitomycin C offers a safe and cost effective alternative to current treatment options such as surgery and radiation.

The research project was led by Fernando Malalana, while working as The Horse Trust's Clinical Scholar in Equine Internal Medicine at University of Liverpool. Fernando is now working as a Clinician Teacher in Equine Internal Medicine at the university.

Ocular tumours are more difficult to treat than tumours in other parts of the horse's body due to the risk of damaging the eye. In the study, Malalana investigated the use of mitomycin C in treating ocular squamous cell carcinoma, the most common ocular tumour in horses, and occular sarcoids, skin tumors that frequently affect the eyelids .

Mitomycin C is an antibiotic isolated from a bacterium, Streptomyces caespitosus. It is known to have cytotoxic effects and has been used to treat tumours in horses before, but only in combination with surgery.

Currently, the main method of treating ocular squamous cell carcinoma is by removing the tumour surgically or with radiation. Both treatments are costly and have a number of associated risks. There is also the risk of damage or scarring to the eye.

Fourteen horses with ocular squamous cell carcinoma, three of which were affected bilaterally, were included in the study. Mitomycin C was applied to the conjunctival sac of the affected eye; in some of the cases the treatment was combined with surgery. Malalana found that of the 8 eyes treated with mitomycin C alone, clinical resolution occurred in 6 cases. Of the 9 eyes treated with both surgery and mitomycin C, clinical resolution occurred in 7 cases.

Mitomycin C was also used to treat various types of sarcoids found in the eye. Currently, the most effective treatment for occular sarcoids is radioactive wire. However, radioactive wire treatment is not ideal as it is expensive, only offered in two locations in the UK, and has potential health risks to the vet applying the wire due to exposure to radioactivity.

Six horses and two donkeys with occular sarcoids, including one horse that was affected bilaterally, were treated with mitomycin C, which was injected directly into the tumour. Malalana found that of the nine nodular and fibroplastic occular sarcoids treated with the antibiotic, all were completely cleared. However, the vets did not have good results with verrucous sarcoids.

Malalana said: "The results of this research should offer hope to the owners of horses that have eye tumours. We have already been contacted by vets from across Europe to find out more information about this treatment and hope that it will be offered to more horses with occular tumours in the future".

Vets at the University of Liverpool are now testing the use of mitomycin C on other tumours that are difficult to treat surgically, including melanomas near the horse's anus. So far, two cases have been treated, but it is too early to tell whether treatment has been successful.

Malalana's research has been submitted to Veterinary Ophthalmology journal.

Merial Animal Health, manufacturer of Previcox, has launched a new campaign in small animal practices across the UK to continue to spread the message of 'total joint health'.

As part of the campaign, Merial has produced 'The A-Z of Canine Mobility' - a series of short articles and bite-sized information which can be disseminated to clients, helping to educate dog owners about canine osteoarthritis and the treatment options available.

Previcox Brand Manager Kathryn England said: "We are providing regularly updated articles and information to interested practices in a form that is easily pasted into a newsletter, eshot or fixed to a waiting room wall so that they can communicate with their clients quickly and easily. It's essentially free information to encourage owners to bring their dogs in for a joint check up."

Merial says the message about the importance of joint health and osteoarthritis is not well understood by pet owners, as demonstrated by a recent survey¹ which found that only 53% of the owners of old dogs considered reduced willingness to exercise as serious enough to require veterinary attention.  

Merial's Technical Manager, Kevin Whelan said: "The results highlight the fact that owners of older pets, even those who would be considered as responsible pet owners, do not consider signs such as unwillingness to exercise or hind leg stiffness to be particularly important. It's therefore important to educate and engage pet owners on this topic to encourage them to seek advice from their vet"

To sign up for regular free updates contact your Merial Territory Manager or call or call 0870 6000 123.

Reference

^1. (Davies, 2011)

Plans for the introduction of a disciplinary mechanism for Registered Veterinary Nurses (RVNs) have been agreed by the RCVS Veterinary Nurses Council.

RVNs agree to account for their professional conduct and keep their skills and knowledge up to date: over 70% of eligible veterinary nurses have now joined the non-statutory Register.

The Veterinary Nurses Council agreed to a period of nearly three years between the opening of the Register and the College putting in place a disciplinary mechanism. This was to give RVNs time to get used to their new rights and responsibilities. Plans are now in place to introduce a disciplinary system from September 2010.

Charges could be brought against a veterinary nurse if found guilty of fraudulent registration, criminal convictions which render him or her unfit to practise as a veterinary nurse, or allegations of disgraceful professional conduct. 

The sanctions would be the same as for veterinary surgeons, ie to remove a nurse's name from the Register (with the nurse eligible to apply for restoration after 10 months), or to suspend the nurse, with his or her name returning to the Register immediately after the period of suspension. A veterinary nurse would not be able to carry out Schedule 3 tasks while removed from the Register.

Complaints would initially be dealt with by the Veterinary Nurses Preliminary Investigation Committee (VN PIC), which will assess whether the complaints should be taken to the hearing stage. Three RVNs will sit on this committee. They will be joined by three members of the veterinary PIC, including either the RCVS President, or one of the Vice-Presidents, and one Lay Observer.

Meanwhile three RVNs will join existing members of the RCVS Disciplinary Committee (DC) to form a VN DC, to adjudicate on charges against a veterinary nurse. These individuals will not currently sit on VN Council. If the case were against a VN, the sitting panel would include at least one veterinary nurse, one veterinary surgeon and a lay person acting as chairman. A legal assessor would also sit with the Committee to offer advice.

If a case were to concern both a veterinary surgeon and a veterinary nurse, the preliminary investigation would be carried out in tandem but with separate disciplinary hearings.

Applications are invited for RVNs to sit on the new VN Preliminary Investigation or Disciplinary Committees. Anyone who would like further information should contact Lesley Evans, Manager, Executive Office (l.evans@rcvs.org.uk or 020 7222 2001) by 31 May 2009.