Scientists at the Royal Veterinary College, contributing to a programme to tackle some of the most harmful and widespread endemic diseases that commonly affect farmed animals in the UK, have developed a severity estimation calculator for post-weaning multi-systemic wasting syndrome (PMWS).

Post-weaning multi-systemic wasting syndrome (PMWS) is a common disease of young pigs in the U.K. It is extremely debilitating, causes considerable suffering and poor welfare, and has a high mortality of up to 30%. It is estimated that the disease costs the UK farming industry £30m per year.

The £2.4m project - headed by Professor Dirk Werling from the Royal Veterinary College and funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) through its "Combating Endemic Diseases For Farm-Animal Sustainability" programme (CEDFAS), the British Pig Executive (BPEX), and two industrial partners, Pfizer Ltd (UK) and BioBest - aims to identify why PMWS occurs and to develop new methods of controlling the disease.

One key-component of the project is the direct involvement of British pig farmers, thereby guaranteeing that pigs in Britain will be the first to benefit from this research, while collaboration with a major international pharmaceutical company will ensure that new veterinary products will be made available to pig farmers worldwide.

Now, two members of the team, Dr. Barbara Wieland and Pablo Alarcon-Lopez, a second year PhD student, have developed a novel approach to quantify severity of PMWS based on morbidity and mortality data and presence of porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2). They applied factorial analyses, using data collected from 147 pig farms in England to identify variables contributing to variation in PMWS severity in a biologically meaningful way.

Together with other known variables linked to PMWS, the resulting factors were used to derive an algorithm for PMWS severity. The derived algorithm was used to develop a PMWS severity calculator, which now can be used by farmers directly to assess the PMWS severity on their own farm (http://www.bpex.org.uk/articles/300874).

The levels of PMWS severities identified on farm level can now be used to identify risk factors related to the different severity-categories, to assess the efficacy of PCV2 vaccination and to investigate the economic impact of potential control measures on a farm.

Blue Cross has announced the results from its National Equine Health Survey (NEHS) which show that lameness is three times more likely to be caused by conditions such as osteoarthritis in the limb rather than problems in the foot.

Blue Cross runs NEHS in May each year, in partnership with the British Equine Veterinary Association (BEVA). It is sponsored by SPILLERS and Zoetis and supported by the UK’s leading equestrian organisations and charities. This year saw a 35% increase in participation compared to 2014, with survey records returned for almost 15,000 horses, ponies, donkeys and mules.

The charity says that whilst of course the horse’s foot is fundamental to soundness and performance, NEHS results have shown consistently that limb lameness, as opposed to foot lameness, is in fact the biggest syndrome affecting horses.

In the latest survey, conducted in May, a total of 18% were recorded as lame. 13.5% of these were recorded as suffering with lameness such as osteoarthritis, also known as degenerative joint disease (13.9% in 2014 and 14.8% in 2013).

Meanwhile foot lameness was recorded in 4.5% of returns, a similar figure to previous years.

Josh Slater from the Royal Veterinary College, who is member of BEVA’s Health & Medicines Committee and analysed the NEHS data, said: “NEHS is now producing important evidence that is replacing subjective opinion. While the lameness figures were initially surprising, given that the foot has been generally regarded as the main problem area, the fact that these figures have remained consistent over the past three years gives constructive credibility to the data. Our findings will help owner vigilance with day-to-day healthcare as well as help prioritise on areas for future veterinary education and research.”

The six most notable disease syndromes identified in the 2015 National Equine Health Survey were:

1. Lameness 18% with 13.5% having limb lameness such as osteoarthritis (degenerative joint disease) not relating to the foot, compared to 14.8% in 2014, 14.8% in 2013 and 9.3% in 2010-12 and 4.5% with foot lameness compared to 4.6% in 2014, 3.8% in 2013 and 4.5% in 2010-12.
2. Skin diseases 17.2% (sweet itch, mud fever and external parasites) compared to 18.3% in 2014, 14.6% in 2013 and 15.2% in 2010-12.
3. Back problems 7% compared to 7.7% in 2014, 5% in 2013 and 3% in 2010-12. 
4. Recurrent Airway Obstruction 6.7% was the most frequently recorded respiratory problem, compared to 6.9% in 2014, 4.2% in 2013 and 3.6% in 2010-12. 
5. Laminitis 6.4% compared to 7.1% in 2014, 4.4% in 2013 and 3.6% in 2010-12.
6. PPID (‘Equine Cushing’s Disease) 6.4% confirmed or suspected compared to 5.6% in 2014, possibly reflecting increased surveillance through sponsored testing programmes as opposed to true increases in prevalence from the pre-2014 surveys. 

23.2% of horses were reported as being overweight with a Body Condition Score of 3.5-5, continuing the upward trend seen in previous years (16.9% in 2014 and 7.8% in 2013). Next year’s survey will explore links between obesity and the possible associated rise of obesity-related diseases such as equine metabolic syndrome (which was reported in 2.4% of 2015 returns) and laminitis.

The survey also enables participants to report on any health problems not covered in the survey questions, giving them a chance to shape future survey subjects.

Gemma Taylor, Education Officer at Blue Cross explains: “This year 11% of our free text answers mentioned gastric ulcers giving a valuable insight into the prevalence gastric ulcer syndrome in the principally leisure horse NEHS population. As a result we will be adding new questions to the 2016 survey to help us find out more.”

The 2015 NEHS survey results are now available from http://www.bluecross.org.uk/nehs2015results. To register for next year’s survey, visit www.bluecross.org.uk/nehs

As yet another Chancellor of the Exchequer bites the dust and the economic turmoil highlights the gulf between rich and poor, VetSurgeon.org is offering vets a chance to find out about the causes of inequality in special forum discussion with Sebastian Chambers, author of 'The A-Z of Inequality - How Governments help the rich and how to reverse it'.

Providing a service for everyone from the richest to the poorest, veterinary surgeons probably have a better insight than most to the effects of inequality in society.

Whilst most people can probably think of one or two government policies which contribute to inequality, Sebastian's fully-referenced book is perhaps the first to identify the entire alphabet's worth, and collate them in an easily digestible format (it's only a 45 minute read).

The book is available in hardback on Amazon for £10, or as an e-book for £5.99

Sebastian is on VetSurgeon.org to answer your questions about and discuss how government policies create inequality in society, here: https://www.vetsurgeon.org/001/nonclinical/f/off-duty-discussions/30455/the-a-z-of-inequality 

Although you certainly don't have to have bought or read his book to take part in the discussion, you should find it £5.99 well spent.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Z-Inequality-Sebastian-Chambers-ebook/dp/B09ZVN1HDW 

Dr Johanna Fink-Gremmels – Professor of Veterinary Pharmacology and Toxicology at Utrecht University – has warned that UK cattle producers need to plan for an on-going struggle with feed-borne mycotoxins, and says vets need to help farmers understand and mitigate the negative impact on animal health.

Speaking to cattle vets at a CPD meeting organised by Alltech, she said: "When you see a general inflammatory response, such as elevated somatic cell count, mycotoxicosis should always be on your radar. The mycotoxin threat to cattle is increasing in the UK, yet it is often the most neglected causative issue on any list of pathogenic suspects."

Johanna explained that natural toxins produced by diverse fungal species are proliferating worldwide, partly as a result of global climate change, but also because of changing agronomic practices in developed countries. 

"Total mixed rations often now contain more than one fungal species, contributing to a complex mycotoxin picture and unresolved health issues in a herd as a result. Cow signals such as reduced feed intake, reproductive disorders, laminitis, mastitis, impaired liver function, a poor response to vaccination programmes and even increased susceptibility to bacterial and viral diseases can all be attributed to ingesting mycotoxin contaminated feed."

Johanna says the biggest challenge for UK dairy farmers is now multiple mycotoxin contamination of grass and maize silage. 

"Cattle health problems with feeding obviously mouldy silage are relatively well understood. But new harder to detect fusarium toxins – such as, for example, Enniatins and Beauvericin contaminating cereal grains – are also now being found in pasture grass in Northern Europe. These will also adversely affect the efficiency and function of the rumen.

"The rumen determines the health and productivity of the cow. When rumen bacteria are suffering the liver does not function correctly initiating a cascade of adverse events; and often a generalised inflammatory response is triggered, which leads to a loss of production."

Johanna added that in the future farmers will need select feed crop plants that are more resistant to fungal invasion and will also have to re-adjust tillage methods to reduce mould contamination. "However, we know that this alone will not stamp out mycotoxin contamination without creating a biological vacuum that will be filled with other micro-organisms.

"Consequently, it will be essential to continue to apply strategies such as rigorous on-farm risk assessment and the use of appropriate in-feed mycotoxin-sequestration agents (binders) to prevent the production-limiting and adverse health effects in our farmed livestock."

The British Veterinary Association (BVA) is calling on the profession to support pet owners in choosing a healthy, sustainable diet for their cats and dogs.

The association says that its research has found that 94% of companion animal vets say they have clients who feed a raw diet, 42% who feed meat-free diets and 29% who feed insect-protein in place of meat.

However, 6 in 10 vets are unsure how many of the cats and dogs they see are fed meat-free diets.

In a new policy position, the BVA is now urging vets to talk to all cat and dog owners about what they feed their pet, and record nutritional histories and any resulting issues on their practice systems.

BVA President Anna Judson said: “We know that owners of cats and dogs are increasingly drawn to pet diets that reflect their own personal values and lifestyle choices, and this is leading to a surge in alternative approaches to pet food.

"We support owners making informed choices about what to feed their pets, but they must be aware that these choices play a pivotal role in the health of the animal and can also have a wider impact on human health and environmental sustainability.

“One of the key issues in these conversations is the lack of long-term, evidence-based research.

"If vet teams are to maintain our position as the ‘trusted voice’ in these conversations, it’s vital that we ask the right questions and also record as much data as possible so that we can understand the long-term impact of some of these newer diets.”

The BVA says its new policy position is not trying to dictate the ‘best’ diet for individual pets but to support pet owners in meeting their pets’ nutritional needs as well as meeting their own lifestyle choices.

The BVA is also recommending changes to veterinary education to include a new emphasis on the importance of nutrition in day one competencies for vets and nurses, and improved awareness of the need for supportive conversations with animal owners.

To support the profession, the BVA says it will create a new public facing resource and lobby for better labelling of pet food and better labelling and traceability of the animal by-products that represent one of the major sources of protein in many cat and dog foods.

Anna added: “The issues around pet food are complex and with so much information available to pet owners from breeders, friends, online forums and other sources, we want to support all members of the vet team to feel fully confident in guiding their clients through dietary decisions.

"We hope that these recommendations and our upcoming resources will improve the information available to both clients and vets, supporting owners to make healthy, informed choices for their pets.”

https://www.bva.co.uk/take-action/our-policies/diet-choices-for-cats-and-dogs 

Voting in this year's RCVS and VN Councils elections has now opened, with veterinary surgeons and veterinary nurses able to cast their votes online, by post or by text message.

All candidate details and ballot papers have been posted earlier this week so should be landing on doormats imminently. 

As in previous years, there is an opportunity for voters to quiz the candidates on VetSurgeon.org and VetNurse.co.uk. Questions submitted before 24th March will be entered into a draw to win one of three 6-bottle mixed cases of wine. Thereafter, there will be an open forum on both sites. 

As in previous years, the College will make an optional 20p charitable donation to the Veterinary Benevolent Fund on behalf of each person who votes. 

Lydia Brown, President of the VBF, said: "The Veterinary Benevolent Fund is very grateful for funds raised through the elections. We appreciate that life in practice can be stressful, and offer support in a variety of ways to veterinary surgeons and veterinary nurses."

RCVS Council comprises 40 members: four are appointed by the Privy Council, 12 by the veterinary schools and 24 by direct election.

Each member is appointed for a four-year term of office. Every year, six members of Council retire at the Annual General Meeting, though may seek re-election.

In 2011, ten candidates are standing for the six seats available, including six incumbent Council members. The candidates are:

• Mr Jon Bray MRCVS
• Mrs Beverley Cottrell MRCVS
• Professor Sheila Crispin FRCVS
• Mr Mark Elliott MRCVS
• Mrs Lynne Hill MRCVS
• Mr Thomas Lonsdale MRCVS
• Mr David Mason MRCVS
• Dr Bob Moore MRCVS
• Mr Adi Nell MRCVS
• Professor Sandy Trees MRCVS

RCVS VN Council comprises 17 members: eight elected veterinary nurses, six veterinary surgeon members (including three from RCVS Council), one Lantra representative and two lay members. 

Two seats are usually available each year, with each member serving a four-year term. 

This year an extra seat for a one-year term is available, due to a member retiring mid-term; this will be filled by the third-placed candidate. 

There are four candidates for the three seats: 

• Miss Liz Branscombe RVN
• Miss Tanya Caley RVN
• Mrs Liz Cox RVN
• Miss Rachel Smith RVN

All votes must be received before 5pm on 27 April 2011 - a slightly earlier deadline than usual, which takes account of the extra public holiday for the Royal Wedding. 

Any veterinary surgeon who has not received their ballot paper should contact Ian Holloway (020 7202 0727 i.holloway@rcvs.org.uk) for an official duplicate; veterinary nurses missing their ballot papers should contact Annette Amato (020 7202 0713 a.amato@rcvs.org.uk).

XLEquine and the Animal Health Trust (AHT) have launched Plan, Prevent, Protect, billed as the UK's first equine biosecurity booklet for horse owners and yard managers to work through with their veterinary surgeon, to minimise disease risk on yards and maintain the health and welfare of the horses in their care.

Mark Tabachnik MRCVS, of XLEquine member practice Wright & Morten Veterinary Surgeons said: "For many yard and horse owners, biosecurity is just not on their radar. It only becomes important after they have had an outbreak! Strangles in particular can have devastating effects which impact not only on horse welfare, but the disruption and paralysis of animal movement has significant consequences with relationships on the yard, not to mention the financial costs in some cases.

"We wanted to develop a practical guide that pre-empts these issues by helping owners to set in place simple and in many cases common sense, plans and procedures to prevent a disease outbreak, along with practical steps should the worst happen, and an outbreak occurs.

"Our veterinary farm colleagues and the medical profession are well ahead in terms of biosecurity measures. It's about changing people's mind-sets. For example the NHS "Catch it Bin it Kill it" campaign has been highly successful in adapting our thoughts and actions towards disease spread, and consequently many of us are more aware of the importance of good biosecurity in one way or another."

Dr Richard Newton, Head of Epidemiology and Disease Surveillance at the AHT was also involved in the development of the booklet. He said: "I hope that this will encourage all equine practices to raise their game, it is so important for the whole equine community."

The booklet is available to all equine clients of XLEquine member practices, or it is available to view at http://www.xlequine.co.uk/content/plan-prevent-protect

Janssen Animal Health has released the results of a survey which suggests incorrect worming strategies on many pig units in the UK are costing the industry dearly.

Most state they do not worm weaners, growers or finishing pigs at all and, while most sows are wormed, only a third treat newly-arrived gilts and boars in quarantine.

Phil Macdonald, UK and Ireland pig business manager at Janssen said: "Worm infestations can harm growth rate and feed efficiency, they can reduce abattoir returns and increase the cost of medication".

According to the company, the survey responses point to confusion among some producers on what constitutes a strategic worming programme. Most, 68 per cent, state they have implemented strategic programmes, but fewer than two-thirds of these cover all pigs on a unit and even fewer correctly base their programmes on the pre-patent period of worms.

Phil said: "It's important that all pigs on a unit are covered by the programme, otherwise there is a higher potential for reinfection. To be effective, the anthelmintic treatment periods need to be based on the pre-patent period of worms, so that treatment interrupts their life cycle.

"It requires a strategic worming programme with a broad spectrum anthelmintic such as Flubenol and Solubenol 100mg/g, which is the first and only water-soluble benzimidazole in the market. These are effective against larvae and worm eggs of a number of worm species as well as the large roundworm, Ascaris suum. Migrating larvae of the large roundworm cause Milk Spot lesions in pig livers, which are damaging to animal welfare and unit economics."

The make-up of UK units in the survey was 58 per cent breeder/finisher, 39 per cent finisher, 3 per cent weaner/finisher.  Most, 68 per cent, use dry pelleted feed, 16 per cent wet feed and 16 per cent have both feed systems.

There is wide variation in worming programmes among producers. Most breeders worm their sows - 17 per cent once a year, 56 per cent twice and 11 per cent three times.  With  boars, 28 per cent worm them once a year, 44 per cent twice and 11 per cent three times. But only one-third (34 per cent) of breeders worm newly-arrived gilts and boars in quarantine.

72 per cent of producers with breeding sows who responded do not worm weaners and 80 per cent do not worm growers. Of the total responses, including specialist finishers, 68 per cent do not worm finishing pigs.

Most producers, 81 per cent, stated that they are aware that livers with Milk Spot lesions have to be trimmed or totally condemned, adding significant annual costs for disposal.

68 per cent admit to Milk Spot lesion levels of 25 per cent in consignments of pigs. Another 10 per cent experience up to 75 per cent livers with Milk Spot damage, and 3 per cent have had every pig liver in a consignment trimmed or condemned because of lesions.  The feedback to producers comes from the BPEX Pig Health Scheme, of which 88 per cent of producers are members.

Only 58 per cent of producers are aware that more traditional worming methods allow pigs continuously to reinfect each other and their environment.  Traditional programmes do not take the worm's life cycle into account.

The detrimental effect of worm damage that causes most concern to producers is lost growth/poorer feed conversion (29 per cent). Others considered the most important to be:

• Cost of extra feed required to compensate for poorer growth/feed conversion (22 per cent)
• Loss of saleable carcase (18 per cent), caused by condemned livers/lighter pigs
• Penalties imposed by slaughterhouses for higher numbers of pigs failing to meet contract specification (17 per cent), and
• Higher cost of medication/labour where worm damage to lungs has made pigs more susceptible to respiratory infection (14 per cent).

Phil says research shows that losses in daily liveweight gain alone add up to £2.31 per slaughter pig where liver condemnations are 30 per cent. "The frightening fact is that the loss is for every slaughter pig, not just those with Milk Spot lesions.

"In a 300-sow herd producing 23 pigs per sow per year that's a loss of £15,939 a year.  On a 1,000-sow unit that exceeds a horrendous £53,000 annually, and these figures take no account of other areas of loss mentioned."

An adult female worm can shed hundreds of thousands of eggs each day, which pigs pass out in their dung. Worm eggs can remain infective for up to 10 years.  Other pigs ingest them and the reinfection process begins. 

Phil said: "A strategic worming programme that treats all pigs on a unit simultaneously is the only effective way to almost completely eliminate the problem. The survey has shown there is considerable potential for a large proportion of producers to improve productivity and cut costs by focusing on this critical area of management."

The RCVS has released the results of a survey it conducted which has found that the vast majority of recent graduates from UK veterinary schools consider extra-mural studies (EMS) to be an essential component of the veterinary degree.

The survey was launched earlier this year in order to help the RCVS build up a picture of how EMS placements are currently working and whether graduates felt that they had gained knowledge and experience from placements that they could not have learnt from their core studies. Some 287 veterinary graduates from 2012 and 2013 participated in the survey, the overwhelming majority of whom (95.6%) agreed that EMS was essential.

Furthermore, the majority of the recent graduates said that they had found EMS placements to be beneficial in terms of the variety of clinical skills, professional skills and working practices they encountered. The only area in which a large number of graduates (42.9%) said that they did not find EMS placements useful was in gaining experience of out-of-hours and weekend work.

Despite the overall positive results, however, a number of concerns about EMS were raised. Issues included variable quality of placements; significant numbers of respondents feeling they were not able to gain as much 'hands-on' experience from placements as they would like; costs of accommodation and travel; and a lack of farm/mixed animal practices for placements.

Other key findings included the fact that the vast majority of veterinary students identified and booked their own placements at EMS practices and that their placements were at the type of practice they were looking for.

Christine Warman, RCVS Head of Education, said: "We launched this survey as an information-gathering exercise to see how EMS placements are currently working, following our last review of EMS in 2009 - and the results have certainly been very interesting.

"What is clear is that the current system is working well and that there is no need for an immediate review or urgent action. Most graduates found the experience gained on placements useful for their studies and find that EMS sets them up well for their first job in practice.

"However, there are a number of issues that we will keep a watching brief over and we plan to repeat the survey every two years in order to monitor these."

The full results of the survey are available to view at www.rcvs.org.uk/emssurvey2014.  Detailed guidance on EMS placements for students, university staff and EMS practices is also available at www.rcvs.org.uk/ems.

Any queries about EMS can also be directed to the RCVS Education Department on education@rcvs.org.uk or 020 7202 0704.