Aborted cow and APHA incompetence

[milkloss]

on Friday we had a cow abort twins so thought we’d ring the vets to see if anyone should be notified as it doesn’t happen much here. It turns out that, yes, the cow needs isolating and samples would need to be taken but no one knows what of and that they’ll be in touch but isolate the cow for now. I’m not sure if it was the vets job to get in touch or animal health. Roll on Monday and I’ve heard diddly so get on to the vets and a few calls by them, and no one is the wiser so I ring APHA and they still don’t know what’s going on and after giving them some warm ears they give me xlvets phone number. They do not really know either but again I give some harsh lessons down the phone and apparently someone will be in touch.

In the meantime we send bits of calf off for our own tests for various things and we were tb testing Monday so the vet was here and I remind them of the APHA issue. That afternoon on of the vets rings to say I’ll come and sample something Tuesday (today) afternoon. She just rung to say I can’t as it has to be a certain vet that does the sampling (registered or something like that) so he’s going to do it Thursday when he does the read. We can’t let the cow go or dispose of the foetuses until we get the results.....next week probably.

WTF?

 

[Werzle]

Heck your keen, i wouldnt of bothered unless i had half a dozen in a week.

 

[milkloss]

Heck your keen, i wouldnt of bothered unless i had half a dozen in a week.

I can see why now. Lesson learnt!

 

[Angus77]

over here we have to report any abortion within 24hrs (maybe longer) they are then blood tested for brucellosis and test repeated 2wks later. only then can cow be sold or taken out of isolation. Would have thought it was similar with yourselves? but maybe not if your vets know nothing about it....

 

[AGN76]

Wouldn't have bothered with twins.

 

[milkloss]

Wouldn't have bothered with twins.

Normally we wouldn’t either but it must have been a moment of madness and felt compelled to do things by the book

 

[Sid]

Usually if cows milk is going into the tank Apha say routine brucellois testing would pick that up.

 

[milkloss]

Usually if cows milk is going into the tank Apha say routine brucellois testing would pick that up.

That’s how I remember from when we used to milk. Beef now so probably explains some of the excitement.

 

[Samcowman]

Bit of a joke isn't it.
Had this with a suspected schmallenburg last year rung the vets to see if I needed to report it. Vet spoke to animal health who said they would could do it if I wanted but I would have to take it down to Bristol and then pay a high disposal cost. So I just took it up the kennels.
It wasn't worth my time in calving to take it their

 

[le bon paysan]

Have to report abortions here. Vet takes Brucellosis sample, paid for by the state.

 

[bovine]

Reporting abortions and early calvings
The law requires cattle keepers to report every abortion or premature calving to an appropriate officer (a Veterinary Inspector) as required by Article 10 of the Brucellosis (England) Order 2000, Brucellosis (Scotland) Order 2000 and its equivalent in Wales.

An abortion or premature calving is defined as “an abortion or calving which takes place less than 271 days after service, or 265 days after implantation or transfer of an embryo, whether the calf is born dead or alive”.

In the first instance you must report any bovine abortion or premature calving to the duty Veterinary Officer at your Divisional Animal Health Office of Defra/SEERAD. He or she will ascertain if an abortion investigation is required. In the case of dairy cows that are contributing to a regular monthly bulk milk sample that is tested for brucellosis, an abortion investigation may not be required. In all other cases an abortion investigation will be required. In most cases the investigation will be carried out by your private veterinary surgeon who will be instructed by the Divisional Veterinary Manager to carry out the investigation.The cost of an abortion investigation for Brucellosis is met by Defra: your private veterinary surgeon will not charge you unless you require an additional private investigation.

http://adlib.everysite.co.uk/adlib/defra/content.aspx?doc=107875&id=122753

 

[Thick Farmer]

Reporting abortions and early calvings
The law requires cattle keepers to report every abortion or premature calving to an appropriate officer (a Veterinary Inspector) as required by Article 10 of the Brucellosis (England) Order 2000, Brucellosis (Scotland) Order 2000 and its equivalent in Wales.

An abortion or premature calving is defined as “an abortion or calving which takes place less than 271 days after service, or 265 days after implantation or transfer of an embryo, whether the calf is born dead or alive”.

In the first instance you must report any bovine abortion or premature calving to the duty Veterinary Officer at your Divisional Animal Health Office of Defra/SEERAD. He or she will ascertain if an abortion investigation is required. In the case of dairy cows that are contributing to a regular monthly bulk milk sample that is tested for brucellosis, an abortion investigation may not be required. In all other cases an abortion investigation will be required. In most cases the investigation will be carried out by your private veterinary surgeon who will be instructed by the Divisional Veterinary Manager to carry out the investigation.The cost of an abortion investigation for Brucellosis is met by Defra: your private veterinary surgeon will not charge you unless you require an additional private investigation.

http://adlib.everysite.co.uk/adlib/defra/content.aspx?doc=107875&id=122753

Has anyone ever done this?

 

[bovine]

We used to get called to do them regularly, but I've not done one for a while!

When they stopped the routine brucellosis blood testing we put a note in the newsletter reminding people of their legal obligation......

(don't ring your vet, ring APHA!)

 

[yellowbelly]

(don't ring your vet, ring APHA!)

By the looks of the OP, he did, quite early on in the proceedings .......

no one is the wiser so I ring APHA and they still don’t know what’s going on

 

[matthew]

Lord help us if we get a (nother) real outbreak of disease.
VI centres closed. Staff replaced, those left demoralised and vital industry support demolished is what I see down here.

 

[milkloss]

By the looks of the OP, he did, quite early on in the proceedings .......

Yes, I rang the vets first and got quite a new member to the practice who elected to ring APHA for me. She came back and said I should ring them myself which I did.

I really can see why they don’t get reported and why @bovine hasn’t done much testing of late. The calves sit in a tub looking like soup and the cow is mighty pQssed off in the bull pen, she’s become a bit of a liability handling her. Come next week when the test results come back I’m not too sure she’ll have much fur round her eyes after pacing up and down the wall.

 

[milkloss]

Got a letter yesterday, only 8 days after reporting!

 

[matthew]

Perhaps it took 8 days to find the correct form. And it appears to be back dated - unless Worcester office uses carrier pigeons.