Ceva Animal Health has launched Assure Ewe, a subsidised testing scheme to assist practitioners identify the cause of enzootic abortion on-farm.

The company says industry estimates are that 12 million accessible breeding ewes (91%) are not vaccinated against enzootic abortion in the UK, and that this should concern all practitioners with sheep clients.

Any flock with an abortion rate of over 2% could, it says, be suffering from the disease, and at a cost of £85 per aborted ewe, those are losses producers can ill-afford to ignore.

Stephenie Clarke from Ceva said: "Abortion remains one of the most significant reasons for loss in sheep flocks and an abortion storm can lead to crippling results on farm.

"Enzootic abortion caused by C. abortus remains the main cause of ovine abortion in the UK1 and once in a flock, takes time to control as exposed ewes can become latently infected."

Assure Ewe is a subsidised blood testing scheme open to all flocks with 50 or more breeding ewes. In contrast to other schemes, evidence of an abortion does not need to have taken place.

Blood samples should be collected from six ewes, with full farm and vet details also supplied. Upon results, Ceva says it will share information with the participating veterinary surgeon to discuss with the farmer.

Stephenie added: "Assure Ewe is a very user-friendly, simple scheme that will help facilitate conversations between vets and farmers while, at the same time, providing useful testing information to vets. Ceva encourages evidence based veterinary decisions, and this is just one example of such an initiative."

If C. abortus is identified in a flock, a veterinary-devised plan combining vaccination with Cevac Chlamydia, biosecurity and only purchasing stock from accredited flocks will assist disease control and eventual eradication.

For further information about the scheme, contact your Ceva territory manager.

Reference

  1. Nadis Abortion in Ewes editorial information www.nadis.org.uk 

PS: Whilst you're here, take a moment to see our latest job opportunities for vets.