Defra has imposed precautionary movement restrictions on eight neighbouring livestock holdings in South East Cornwall following an outbreak of brucellosis in a beef suckler herd.
Preliminary test results have shown that five animals in the single suspect herd may have the notifiable disease, which causes abortions in cattle. The 38-cow herd, near Liskeard, has been under restriction since unexplained abortions were reported in the herd earlier this month.
Further serological results are expected from the Veterinary Laboratories Agency, Weybridge, very shortly. The five reactors will be culled and if the laboratory culture results are positive, the whole herd will be slaughtered.
State Veterinary Service vets are currently undertaking forward tracings of animals that have left the suckler unit, although evidence so far suggests that the overwhelming majority of animals have gone to slaughter.
Farmers are remidned of their statutory requirement to notify abortions in cattle immediately to Defra.
The neighbouring herds have been placed under movement restrictions while blood tests take place. Milk tests from neighbouring dairy farms show no evidence that the disease is currently present.
Wildlife can spread disease by moving infected afterbirth to neighbouring farms, but it is normally spread by cattle -to-cattle contact. While the disease is economically serious, it does not carry the same implications as Foot and Mouth Disease. The Food Standards Agency advise that whilst it is possible to catch the disease by drinking infected, unpasteurised milk or dairy products, this rarely happens in the UK and the risk is very small. The risk from meat products is even smaller. A full Q and A is available at www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/brucellosis.
Chief Veterinary Officer Jim Scudamore said that Great Britain has official brucella-free status. There were two cases last year in Scotland which were linked with imported consignments from the Republic of Ireland.
Mr Scudamore said it was vital for all livestock farmers, particularly in Cornwall, to report all abortions in cattle to their local Animal Health Divisional Office.
Further investigations into the source of the outbreak are continuing.
