From the press release:
"Dianne Summers, Dr Gina Bromage MA,Vet MB,DVM,MRVCS, and recently resigned B.A.S. Chair Mike Birch have developed a new website dedicated to the subject of bTB in Camelids.
The purpose of the website is two-fold – first and foremost is to help camelid herds who come down to Tb and secondly to educate camelid owners on the serious issue of bTB with the hope it will reduce the risk of it happening to them."
The pic is Dianne Summers with one of her alpacas. Dianne explains:
"The site is dedicated to the 320 plus alpacas and llamas lost to members of the TB Support Group and their owners. This website is dedicated to all of them - gone but not forgotten".And for anyone still hooked on a badgers v. cattle polemic, and thinking b.tuberculosis doesn't affect them - please click on this link.
Should any pig, goat, sheep or any other groups decide to create their own support network we will be pleased to offer a similar link.
8 comments:
Link in right navigation bar for alpaca tb web site is currently missing an "a" so does not work.
Anon 1.20
It never pays to do things in a hurry. Link fixed and pic added.
Good luck with the site.
Matt
Around 85% of the world's cattle and 82% of the human population are in areas where bTB is either partially controlled or not controlled at all (Ref. 1), so is it realistic to expect we can ever really eradicate bTB as a disease in UK cattle (or other animals)? Even in areas classed as 'TB free', where it is supposedly 'eradicated', the disease crops up from time to time. The following is an extract from the 2nd edition (1906) 'Mycobacteriul bovis Infection in Humans and Animals', by CO Thoen, James H Styeele and MJ Gilsdorf; 'In view of the large number of susceptible species, the differences in pathogenesis and the variety of possible transmission mechanisms, combined with the lack of effective vaccination and moderately accurate diagnostic methods, bovine TB can be difficult to control', let alone eradicate'!
Anon 5.06
Your references are almost century ago. The SICC skin test has been refined and updated. It has worked exceedingly well for cattle and in the absence of a wildlife reservoir, many countries have completely eliminated TB from cattle herds using it. m .bovis in smaller mammals is said to be 'self limiting', in that although some carry it, it is not in the quantity to transmit to anything else and it frequently kills quickly. This is not a successful host species.
Uniquely, GB has allowed its wildlife reservoir in badgers, (which can survive for up to 9 years, have cubs and still shed bacteria) unfettered growth, especially since 1997. No attempt whatsoever has been made to identify hotspots with problems, let alone control them. The result is the environmental spillover which we are now seeing in many other mammals.
Unfortunately for camelids, the skin test is seriously bad. We understand that some blood assays show promise on infected animals but have less confidence when used to screen herds. After a promising start, and despite heavy financial investment in a GB model, Defra have turned a blind eye to PCR.
The UK is an island, and as such we should have much more control over borders than many other countries with land boundaries. It is what our Ministry has not done within those borders which is now causing havoc for camelid owners. And the keepers of many other group mammals. (We are about to do a posting on TB problems in outdoor pigs)
We do not accept that eradication of this disease is impossible, and under EU statute the UK has to present a plan to do just that. Not for any fluff about badgers or cattle, but to protect human health. And given the scale of the problem, the sooner we start, the better. For all mammals.
Spam - deleted. How do these trolls get in?
Spam - deleted. Any alpacas out there want diamond earrings? We are spending too much time deleting this trash.
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