Axiom Farm Vet Lab

06/08/2024

Still time to health screen sheep and gain status before sale
Boost interest in your breeding stock at sales by providing sellers with information on their health status.
We offer low cost, fully validated tests for:
• Border disease virus carriers - PCR testing of pooled blood samples with follow up testing of positive pools with a validated low cost antigen ELISA or PCR. From £4.03 & VAT per head. Alternatively use pooled ear tissues for PCR testing.
• MV – gain MV Monitored-Free flock status by testing a sample of the flock. No membership fee. £3.85 & VAT per test. Results within three working days. Infected flocks can also benefit from the same low cost testing plus advice from a vet experienced in MV control and eradication. For health planning purposes, we also offer a low cost 12 sheep MV screen for testing of thin ewes which works out at £4.09 & VAT per head.
• Johne’s disease – our Monitoring Programme offers discounted test rates for testing batches of 40+, 100+ or 200+ sheep. £4.25 - £4.75 & VAT per sample. No membership fee. Smaller sample numbers can be tested through our diagnostic system for £6 & VAT. Results within three working days.
• CLA

07/02/2024

Herd screening for Johne’s control?
Want results within three working days?
Don’t want to pay a membership fee to access discounted test rates?
Don’t want to have to follow set rules?

Test before calving to remove Johne’s high risk animals from the calving pens

At Axiom we offer discounted test rates through our Johne’s Monitoring Programme for herd tests involving more than 40 cattle.

Sliding scale of discounted test rates for 40+ (£4.45 per sample), 100+ (£4.20 per sample) and 200+ samples (£4 per sample).

No need to sign up in advance of submitting the samples – just ask your vet to complete the half page form and send it with the samples.

Discounted test rates also available for Neospora.

16/01/2024

Consider testing before treating for liver fluke
The past autumn/early winter period appears, like the previous year, to have been a relatively low risk one for cases of liver fluke. It is therefore worth testing before automatically treating for liver fluke this season. We can test for evidence of liver fluke in multiple ways – faeces samples for either fluke antigen (saliva product from the fluke) or for fluke eggs and blood samples or bulk tank milk samples for evidence of exposure. Antibodies in blood or milk can remain present for months following successful treatment so these samples are most useful before any treatments have been given that season. However it is possible that a lot of stock could have been routinely treated unnecessarily this season as the results to date suggest that liver fluke challenge has not been widespread across the country so testing blood samples may still be worth considering now to determine if there has been exposure. We can pool blood samples to keep the cost down. If treated animals are found positive on bloods faeces samples could then be tested for evidence of current infection. It is also important to bear in mind that the risk can change during the season and the sensitivity of the tests generally increases over time once they are infected so a negative result in the autumn doesn’t necessarily mean there is no risk now. Late winter into spring tends to be when most cases are detected through testing. In addition to the cases shown in the charts, liver fluke eggs have only been found in a relatively small number of samples so far this autumn/winter.

07/12/2023

Schmallenberg virus alert

We have been seeing results that are suggestive of an incursion of Schmallenberg virus, particularly in the last month or so. There have been some very high bulk milk antibody levels and also widespread high antibody levels in affected animals. Counties where there appears to have been recent exposure have been mainly in the south but as far north as Shropshire and Powys so far. Flocks and herds have reported reduced conception rates, early embryonic and/or foetal deaths and abortions. High body temperature, milk drop and scour can also occur in outbreaks of Schmallenberg virus. It is likely that some lambs and calves will be born in late winter or spring with deformities as a result of the virus infection e.g. twisted spine, fixed limb joints and it can also result in “dummy” newborns, which are slow and reluctant to suck due to brain damage.

08/08/2023

BCVA webinar tonight - Blood sample analysis - what does it mean?

If you are a BCVA member join us tonight at 8pm for a webinar where Catriona will be covering how to gain the most from serology and PCR testing on blood samples.

25/07/2023

Lead toxicity in farm animals
So far this year we have diagnosed lead poisoning in five submissions. The worst case involved the deaths of at least ten beef heifers and a car battery was the source. In another outbreak ten 4-6 weeks old lambs died in a field next to a shooting ground and a very high blood lead level was detected. In many cases of lead poisoning multiple animals are affected, with often more than one death reported. Within a group it is common to have animals with blood lead levels that are raised but not at fatally toxic levels. This can have implications for the food chain and may require follow up blood testing on the group to show that lead levels have fallen, as farmers are responsible for ensuring the food they produce is safe for human consumption.
Summer is the most common time of year for lead toxicity cases. Often it is young cattle that are affected but all ages of cattle and sheep are susceptible. Lead toxicity can present as sudden death or animals may show nervous signs such as blindness, tremors and seizures. Signs can also be related to the digestive tract e.g. abdominal pain, which can cause teeth grinding, and constipation followed by foul smelling diarrhoea. Chronic exposure to lead e.g. from high lead levels in soil can cause poor growth rates and fertility can be adversely affected. Where lead toxicity is suspected we can measure lead levels in blood (heparin tube) from live animals or in kidney tissue from post mortems.

19/07/2023

Poor scanning rates last year?

Make sure trace element deficiency is not causing a fertility issue in your flock by having ewes blood sampled pre-tupping. Ideally sample at least five per group a minimum of six weeks pre-tupping to give time to address any deficiencies. Consider testing for selenium, copper, cobalt and iodine status.

12/07/2023

Welcome to our new Farm Animal Veterinary Advisor: Ben Strugnell BVMS, Cert PM MRCVS
We are pleased to announce that Ben has joined us on a part time basis (Tuesday & Thursday mornings). Ben qualified in 2002 from Edinburgh and spent 5 years in mixed practice before joining the (then) Veterinary Laboratories Agency at Thirsk, where he stayed for 5 years. In 2014 he established Farm Post Mortems Ltd, a carcase based livestock diagnostic service based at a fallen stock collection centre in Durham, servicing North East England. He regularly teaches and demonstrates the gross pathology and diagnostic techniques to vets, students, farmers and allied industries.

11/07/2023

The MSD sponsored Flockcheck scheme deadline has been extended to 1st August. There's still time to have up to eight barren/aborted ewes tested for antibodies to Toxoplasma and/or EAE (Chlamydial abortion). Ewes must be unvaccinated against the disease/s being tested for.

05/07/2023

Is your flock free of MV?
Demonstrate to buyers this autumn that your stock are at low risk of having MV by testing through the MV Monitored-Free programme. This is a practical scheme designed for commercial type flocks. There is no membership fee. Depending on the size of the flock up to 61 sheep need to be blood sampled. The sampling proportion gives a 95% confidence that the level of infection in a MV Monitored-Free flock is below 5%. Lab test cost is £3.70 & VAT. Flocks that are infected with MV can do a whole or part flock test for the same test rate for disease control purposes (and obviously won't receive a MV Monitored-Free health declaration). Results reported within three working days. For more information visit the Sheep/Goats page at www.cattlehealthscheme.com

19/04/2023

Nematodirus alert

Nematodirus battus worms can cause scour in young lambs, most commonly when the lambs are about 6-12 weeks old. Whether or not disease occurs depends on the age of the lambs and when the mass hatch of Nematodirus eggs occurs and the latter is temperature driven. Some regions are now on high alert and many others are predicted to be high risk in the next 1-2 weeks. We have seen evidence of Nematodirus battus eggs in a number of submissions in the last week or so from areas such as Shropshire, Staffordshire, Monmouthshire and Carmarthenshire. For a more detailed picture of the risk level in your area, and when the high risk period is likely to occur, there is a map available at:
https://www.scops.org.uk/forecasts/nematodirus-forecast/
Coccidia can also cause diarrhoea in lambs of a similar age so worm egg/cocci counts can be useful to help determine which is likely to be the cause. If there has been a very heavy challenge with Nematodirus worms then lambs may scour before the eggs are coming through in their faeces. This is due to the larval stages causing diarrhoea before they get to the adult egg laying stage. If unfortunately a lamb dies it is possible for a vet to wash through the gut contents, from the whole of the small intestine, and look for the larvae. These can be seen with the naked eye and they tend to clump together producing a cotton wool effect. If lambs need treated for Nematodirus worms a white BZ drench (benzimidazole, group 1) will usually be effective. Treatment sometimes needs to be repeated after about 10 days, if there is a heavy challenge, but make sure it is not coccidiosis that is causing the scour first.

The forecast can be used in combination with your grazing history to assess the risk of Nematodirus infection in your lambs.

09/02/2023

Consider testing before treating for liver fluke

This season again appears to have been a low risk one for liver fluke cases in England and Wales with not much evidence of acute liver fluke and the majority of faeces and blood samples testing negative. This could be a consequence of recent dry years.

The percentage of faecal submissions that tested positive in the fluke antigen ELISA ranged from 2.5 to 6% over the autumn/early winter period. These results are similar to the same period last year. There has been an increase in positive submissions in January to 13% of submissions having positive results with this test, which detects the presence of the late immature and adult stage liver flukes.

Due to infections not always being uniform across a herd or flock (unless it is a very high challenge situation) then it is important when sampling just a small number of animals that those most likely to be infected are targeted for testing to maximise the chances of detecting it i.e. the thinner animals in the herd or flock. It is also important to sample each group.

04/11/2022

04/11/2022

Increase in acorn poisoning cases

Since mid October we have had over 20 submissions of confirmed or suspected acorn poisoning. A couple involved sheep and the rest were cattle, with youngstock and adults affected and often multiple animals. There were also a few cases in September and earlier in October. This contrasts with last year where there was a single suspected case and in 2020 we had about ten cases. There appears to be an abundance of acorns this year and in some places grass may still be in short supply resulting in stock being more likely to consume acorns. Affected animals are usually off their feed, weak, may be hunched up due to abdominal pain and often have foul smelling diarrhoea, which may contain blood. They may die relatively suddenly. If they do survive they often develop weight loss and anaemia as a result of severe kidney failure. It is best to move stock off fields where oak trees are present or erect a temporary electric fence to prevent them gaining access to acorns.

18/10/2022

Exposure to Mycoplasma bovis in GB dairy herds

This data set relates to bulk milk samples submitted to Axiom over the last 22 months for Mycoplasma bovis antibody testing. Some samples were submitted for routine monitoring but others were submitted as there were suspicions of infection. The dataset is therefore biased and will be at a higher level than a random survey would likely show but nevertheless a significant proportion of dairy herds have evidence of having been exposed to Mycoplasma bovis.

The bulk milk antibody result is classed as negative or positive and the latter are given a degree of magnitude from + to ++++.
• 186 bulk milk samples were tested of which 154 were positive = 83%
• 165 herds were tested of which 137 were positive on bulk milk antibody testing = 83%. One of these became positive during this time period following an outbreak of respiratory disease which spread through the herd, starting with the cows and then the heifers. A shallow irritable cough, nasal discharges and moderate temperatures were reported.
• 17 herds tested more than once. Of these three stayed negative, six increased in level of magnitude (i.e. by + or more) and three decreased in level of magnitude (i.e. by one +). The others has static levels of antibodies.

Samples were received from 26 different counties in England, N Ireland, Wales and Scotland.
County (where at least five herds sampled) No. herds pos/no. herds tested (listed in order of greatest no. of herds tested)
Devon 28/31 (90%)
Cornwall 19/24 (79%)
Staffordshire 15/17 (88%)
Co. Tyrone 10/11 (91%)
Dorset 7/10 (70%)
Co. Down 6/7 (86%)
N Yorkshire 5/7 (71%)
Lancashire 5/6 (83%)
Pembrokeshire 5/6 (83%)
Cheshire 4/5 (80%)
Oxfordshire 2/5 (40%)
Among the clinical signs reported in the herds in the highest antibody category included respiratory disease in calves, respiratory disease in adults, milk drop, elevated temperature, swollen joints and mastitis.

Magnitude of result. % of samples
Negative 17
+ 8
++ 15
+++ 17
++++ 42

12/10/2022

Come and say hello at BCVA. We look forward to seeing you there!

19/08/2022

Drought and hot weather conditions increase the risk of vitamin A deficiency

Carotene, which is present in high amounts in green, leafy plants, is converted to vitamin A in the small intestine. If grass is dry and weathered the carotene levels will be very much lower. Vitamin A is stored in the liver, if intakes are much higher than requirements, and adult cattle can have liver stores that last up to four months. Cows are going to potentially be at higher risk of entering a depleted state during the winter period as their liver reserves are likely to be lower than usual at housing. Youngstock and calves are at much higher risk of deficiency as they have lower liver reserves so they deplete and become deficient more quickly.

Hot weather can suppress thyroid function, which can reduce the conversion of carotene to vitamin A. High nitrate levels (from heavily fertilised or drought stressed forages) and high concentrate diets also adversely affect the conversion plus high nitrates destroy vitamin A and carotene in the digestive tract. Levels of carotene in silage depend on the leafiness of the grass when it is cut and levels can fall by 50% during storage over the winter period.

Vitamin A has a number of important functions including for vision, the immune system, the nervous system, for bone growth and in reproductive function.

Deficiency of vitamin A affects the integrity of the protective barriers lining the digestive, respiratory, urinary and reproductive tracts and deficiency also adversely affects immune function, both of which increase the susceptibility to infections. Vitamin A deficiency can be an underlying factor in disease outbreaks, so testing can be worth considering in situations such as respiratory disease in calves at grass and in outbreaks of neonatal calf scour.

We see a whole range of signs in deficient calves and youngstock such as blindness, uncoordinated gait, seizures, reduced food intakes, failure to thrive, rough hair coats, diarrhoea, hair loss, skin scaling and thickening, discharges from the eyes and nose and increased susceptibility to infection, which can result in more severe scour and respiratory disease outbreaks. If cows’ levels deplete during pregnancy it can result in calves being born with cataracts, small or missing eyes or other eye deformities plus calves that are weak at birth and/or have poor suckling strength. Poor conception rates, resorptions, abortions, stillbirths and retained placentas can also occur. Other effects can include poor semen quality, reduced libido and oedema (e.g. of the brisket and joints). Deficiency is much less common in sheep but it can sometimes occur.

We can test blood samples for vitamin A. Samples should be kept cool and kept out of direct sunlight.

15/06/2022

Stand out from crowd when selling commercial breeding replacement sheep

There is limited availability of MV Monitored-Free sheep so help meet buyers’ needs, and add value to yours, by screening your flock. The scheme involves blood sampling 20 to 61 sheep depending on flock size. The lab fee is £3.50 per sample and the membership fee is £45. See the sheep/goats page at www.cattlehealthscheme.com for more information

20/05/2022

Bulk milk Salmonella Dublin serology review contd.

Only 22 of the positive bulk milk samples had a history provided with them:

20/05/2022

Bulk milk Salmonella Dublin serology review

The review covers a two year period from end of April 2020 to end of April 2022.
396 bulk milks were tested of which 93 were positive = 23.5%
334 different farms were sampled of which 83 tested as positive on one or more occasions = 24.8% (herd prevalence of those tested).
• Sampling is biased e.g. if S Dublin is suspected, though some herds just monitor as a routine.
• Some of these herds will be vaccinated against S Dublin but herds would only vaccinate if there had been a previous issue
50 herds were tested more than once in the two year period:
• Five herds changed status to positive. One of these later tested negative (within six weeks). It has had a declining level of antibodies since testing positive
• One herd changed from positive to negative (within five months)
• Antibodies following an outbreak can be fairly short lived, therefore testing is useful for herd surveillance

28/04/2022

Tonight!

Webinar: Getting to grips with Johne’s disease in the suckler herd
Thu, 28 April 2022

7:00 PM - 8:00 PM

Register online at AHDB

Johne’s blood testing available at Axiom vet lab from £3.80 per sample with results within three working days. No membership fee

14/04/2022

Early tick activity
We have diagnosed a case of Babesiosis (redwater) this week in a 13-year-old Highland cow in North Wales. The late pregnancy cow had evidence of anaemia, was possibly passing red urine and some ticks were seen on it, which are the vector of the disease. Redwater cases are more common between May and October, when ticks are most active.
From July 2018 to December 2021 we diagnosed cases in 35 animals on 33 different holdings in England and Wales. Twenty involved beef herds, twelve were dairy herds and one case was in a reindeer. Most cases occur in the south west of England but cases were also diagnosed in west Wales and in North Yorkshire. Cases usually occur in adult cattle, the youngest that we diagnosed it in during this period was nine months old, and two other cases involved yearlings.

08/04/2022

Nematodirus alert

The first cases of scour due to Nematodirus have been diagnosed in lambs already this year so be on the lookout for it. It tends to affect lambs from about six weeks old, mainly in the spring or early summer. The timing of the risk period can vary across the country as the mass egg hatch resulting in the larval challenge is temperature dependent. Coccidiosis is also common in lambs of this age so having faecal samples tested can help determine which is likely to be the issue so that the correct treatment can be given.

23/03/2022

Needing fast Johne’s blood test results before turnout? Results reported within three days and quite often same day. Discounted test rates for herd screens. No membership fee and lab test rates from £3.80 per sample through our Monitoring Programme. Also disocunted test rates for Neospora herd screens.

02/02/2022

Schmallenberg virus alert

Last week we diagnosed Schmallenberg virus as the cause of the deformities affecting a Suffolk lamb born in the south of England. We have also been finding high levels of antibodies to the virus in cattle and sheep with histories of deformed offspring, abortions or high barren rates. Be alert to the possibility of deformed lambs and calves (often twisted limbs or backs) if a lambing/calving is failing to progress. Newborns may have difficulty in suckling. Reduced lambing percentages may occur in exposed flocks and if high barren rates or pregnancy losses are being investigated, in sheep or cattle, it may also be worth also testing for Schmallenberg virus.

12/01/2022

Liver fluke alert

Liver fluke cases tend to peak in December-January each year. Ask your vet about blood or faecal testing to see if treatment is required for your flock or herd. The chart demonstrates the yearly trend for one of our three liver fluke tests.

14/12/2021

Special discounted rates for Johne’s &/or Neospora herd screens

Testing your herd for management purposes? Don’t need a CHECS risk level?

Benefit from fast turnaround times of under three working days and testing from £3.80 per sample for Johne’s disease and from £5.30 per sample for Neospora. No joining fee. Farmers can get a copy of the fully interpreted results by e-mail. An ideal time for testing for each of these diseases is 1-3 months pre-calving.

Ask your vet about the Axiom Johne’s & Neospora Monitoring Programmes.

16/04/2021

We have had an increased number of reports of small and also dwarf calves being born this spring. Some have been normal in appearance but small in size and others have had varying combinations of joint laxity, domed skulls and shortened long bones. We have also had reports of similar problems in lambs this year. If you have come across this issue it can be useful to do some blood sampling of the herd or flock as manganese and/or copper deficiency has been identified in some cases. Historically there has also been an association with the feeding of high quality silage in the 4th-5th months of gestation and the birth of dwarf calves i.e. with shortened long bones. The reason for this is not known but one theory is that there may be a toxic factor in the silage. By diluting the silage e.g. with straw so that it constitutes no more than 75% dry matter of the ration seems to prevent the problem in future years.