Schmallenberg virus - are you affected?

Alec Swan said:
On another note, I've just received an interesting 'phone call. It seems that within the town of Schmallenberg, there's a pharmaceutical company who are being very tight lipped, and a little twitchy over the details of their research work.

Considering that the last outbreak of FMD originated from laboratories at Pirbright in Surrey, it does rather lead us to wonder just where this entirely new virus came from, doesn't it?

Alec.
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If it is 'new' - with antibody testing it would be easy to see if animals in this country had had previous exposure... We had some interesting results after the Bird Flu outbreak, where relatively old birds had some immunity present.. not what 'should' have been the case ;) And developing a simple antibody test is neither particularly difficult nor expensive.

I have just found out an old Uni colleague is part of the research team in Germany, will see just how much information I am 'allowed' to know!
 
Alec Swan said:
On another note, I've just received an interesting 'phone call. It seems that within the town of Schmallenberg, there's a pharmaceutical company who are being very tight lipped, and a little twitchy over the details of their research work.

Considering that the last outbreak of FMD originated from laboratories at Pirbright in Surrey, it does rather lead us to wonder just where this entirely new virus came from, doesn't it?

Alec.
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How very interesting Alec! I wait with bated breath to hear any more of that story! :eek: Although I have to say it doesn't surprise me!

We don't start 'til April and are hoping that the midges would have died down by the time we turned our tup off, but who knows.
We have a mixture of Suffolk x's and Mules to lamb this year, just had one prolapse this morning so we are hoping that isn't the start of things to come. :(
 
We are nearly there, 3 left to go, 1 with triplets and 2 with twins. Just wish they would hurry up so we can all sleep ALL night, novelty!
 
Alec, this is the biotechnology/molecular biology research institute based in Schmallenberg.

This is where we seem to be:
  • Blood samples from cattle showing clinical symptoms led to the detection of gene sequences not present in unaffected animals
  • Comparison of these gene sequences has revealed a strong relationship with the Bunyaviridae viruses
  • The viral genes have also been detected in brain tissue from lambs showing congenital deformities
  • They have successfully been cultured in both insect and animal (hamster) cells
  • These cultured viral units have had a positive response when introduced to experimentally infected animals
  • No antibody specific tests have been developed; those already in commercial use for other Bunyaviruses failed to detect the Schmallenberg virus

However, the current diagnosis method remains unvalidated. The Friedrich Loeffler Institute in Germany is carrying out a great deal of research, however they have not sought to patent anything related to Schmallenberg, and are happy to share material and knowledge as long as it is for non-commercial purposes.

There are still a huge number of unknowns - which species are acting as vectors, whether direct transmission of infection is possible, and of course, the origin of the virus (although the 'family' of related viruses show fairly common development of new strains)
 
The news isn't desperately exciting. The shearlings are the first to lamb, and losses have been at about 50%. I put teasers in, so the lambing period should have been tightened up, but to date, it's dragging out.

A strange thing, but the bulk of the losses have been tup lambs.

I lambed a ewe an hour ago, and the lamb is struggling to stand. A very good lamb, but HUGE fetlocks and feet, but out of proportion to the admittedly decent body.

Very strange, and a little worrying. Does anyone else have any experiences?

Alec.
 
You're having a time of it! We had a much tighter lambing this year and this was the first year we used a teaser, your losses are high! Are they being born poor, are they malpresented or are they dying in utero? We had an awful time 2 yrs ago, ewes ringbound etc but since then we have had the ewes on Lifeline buckets which seem to have made a difference. We are novices at this sheep lark as we've only had them for about 6 yrs so we are still learning.
 
Since first light this morning, 7 ewes have lambed, with 5 sets of twins, 1 set of triplets, and a single. About bloody time too!!

2 more ewes now started, so off out for a quick inspection!!

Alec.
 
That really is a bummer, isn't it? Nothing and no-one should die during parturition. Bloody horrible.

Just a word of caution for you, as we're going (so I understand ;)) to be presented with a baby Boogaloo, do be extremely cautious around ewes which are going through the birthing process.

Enzootic abortion can be passed from sheep to human, and it's the ewes body fluids, so I understand where the transporting agent exists, and it's also my understanding that the spores are ingested nasally.

I don't mean to be an alarmist, but would prefer to speak up, than live with regret. :o

Lots of love, Kitty, how are you? :eek::D:D

A. x
 
I am trying to be very careful, I don't touch anything but didn't realise you can inhale dangerous things?! That's a whole new spin on it :( I am starting to feel very useless here! Thank you for mentioning it, I have been really careful not to touch anything or touch anything that has touched any birthing fluids ... but as I say will view with even more caution now.

Or maybe not at all :(

OH is starting his time off to lamb on Friday, so I do hope nothing happens before then. It's a hugely harsh thing to have to stand by and offer nothing to these girls.

Apart from being useless, I'm fine :D x
 
ETA this is our lost ewe, hope it's not too graphic for anyone. So sad, she was a beautiful girl.
photo2-1.jpg
 
Yeah my boyfriend caught Q-fever via inhalation during lambing. As a vet student I've been following this thread closely, I've been to a couple of talks about it as its seen quite a lot in the south east which is home when I'm not at Uni. Can't really add anything else that's useful, I'm just keeping an eye on animal health website etc etc at the moment. Off lambing in Derbyshire next week so hopefully I won't get to see it!
 
Good lord what is Q fever!!? Dare I google?
Seems this lambing is a hazardous lark.
Anyway our lambing is due to start with our red backs, on the 19th so I'm told. And OH is always right to the day :D
 
BoolavogueDC said:
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Or maybe not at all :(

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I found this, having googled Q Fever;

Human infection usually occurs by inhalation of contaminated dust or exposure to amniotic fluid or placenta, where the organism can survive for a long time. Q fever is an uncommon human infection in the United Kingdom.

Both Q Fever and Enzootic Abortion are zoonosis, so transferable from animals to humans.

Q Fever is very rare. Enzootic Abortion isn't, in the North of England, or anywhere where there are high concentrations of sheep, it's virtually endemic.

You may well feel useless, that's what my OH says, at this time of year, and every year, but it's the support and a listening service which can make all the difference. Oh, and putting up with those who are sleep deprived. ;)

Alec.
 
Thanks Alec :) that does make me feel better :)

We have another prolapsed ewe this morning, OH is on the blower to a vet now getting some advice. This is becoming all too frequent for my liking.
I must admit, coming from a horsey/doggy background where losses are generally minimal, this loss of animals really unsettles/upsets me :(
 
Kitty,

probably a bit late, but do you have a purpose made plastic "Spoon"? It will be yoke shaped and you place the spatula shaped bit inside, you find a length of bailer string, attach it to one of the yokes, pass it round the front of the sheep, pull it tight, and then tie it off on the other side of the yoke. I've just re-read that, and it seems to make little sense.

Anyway,......

Failing that, stand the sheep virtually on its head, by holding it's back legs in the air, so that it's virtually on it's shoulders, first clean and then push the womb back inside, and stitch a suture into its fanny. If you haven't any suitable thread, then dental floss is brilliant, I've found!!

The beauty is, that both systems will allow the ewe to lamb past the obstruction, if you see what I mean.

Having just read through the above, yet again, I bet that you're really looking forward to having your own baby, aren't you? :o:D Don't worry you'll be fine, and if your not, give me a shout!! ;)

Alec.
 
We always use a prolapse harness or thick bale twine made to the same shape, neck along back knotted above tail under tail then one piece around each leg tied to back piece around loin area, think spoons are invite for bugs to enter.
 
Thank you cuffey, appeals to my cooking sensibilities :D

We have spoken with the vet at some length, who thinks our ewes are too well and the lambs too big, causing this problem. Also they need to up their calcium. Seems we have too good grazing here, both the sheep and the horses are too well! :o

Oh and thanks for all your help, this is all new to me and seeing as I can't help all I can do is hurrang sheepy people on the internet for help :)
 
Interesting Cuffey, I didn't know that one. We use the OH holds ewe up in the air by her back legs method and I replace the prolapse and attach a spoon. We have only once had to resort to the prolapse harness with one who was unable to retain the spoon. (Touchwood) We have never had any infection problems with the spoons. So far only one prolapse this year and generally among our neighbours there have been very few.

BoolavogueDC~ It is generally thought that sheep being overweight causes prolapses but it is not always the case. We have had cases where the ewe is far from too fat and still prolapses. It's not easy to get fat sheep up her in these hills! Keep up the haranging, it's nice to talk to people about sheep with out them thinking you are slightly mad! lol
 
Do you think my photo of our lost ewe, looks too fat? I really don't know TBH, I just think she looks healthy! But maybe, that's a "mother's" love ;) Our ewes only get a bucket of cake between them (29 ewes) and sporadic haying (think they've only had 20bales this winter!) and have been grazing on our worst grazing since Dec.. I struggle with how we'll make them "worse" next year when I didn't think they got much this year!

It is lovely to talk to people, I can ask you guys the thick questions I wont ask OH :D
 
We had problems with our texels for a couple of years being too fat, too big lambs, prolapsed and getting ring bound. Think we have it sorted now now, very little feed but ad lib 'lifeline' Buckets, they have made a huge difference. Our ewes for the past 2 years since feeding them have not been ring bound at all, we keep them much leaner too, scanning also allows us to feed singles differently to the twin and triplet ewes in fact the single get no hard feed at all. It is all a learning curve, we were dairy farmers years ago and the ran a contracting business so this sheep lark is relatively new.
 
The only common denominators we can find, is possibly age (although we've got older ewes not prolapsing) and management. The ewes prolapsing went to different rams, so some are carrying texel x and others suffolk x.
They get a generic ewe nut and a mineral block. Along with what I deem to be good quality hay - however as the horses are massively good off the grazing alone, leads me to think that it might be the grass quality maybe?
 
They probably don't need the ewe nuts or the hay, if you think about how much room they have inside them with a big lamb or twins, with the extra food there is only 1 way they can make room for it and that is prolapsing. With good grass a mineral lick or lifeline tubs should be enough. Once they have lambed you can then give them the hard feed.
 
Thanks, will put that to OH. He's had sheep all his life, but it may be now that things need changing, well they certainly do with two prolapsed already.
 
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