26 March 2012

1 minute read

Europe

The first was in a group of beef animals in North Yorkshire. The initial case was in a purchased animal. It is not known if this incident was linked to the cases previously described in Wales. The affected animals were treated and later sold for slaughter.

The second case was in south-west Wales, in a group of approximately ten, six-month-old beef calves.

These incidents provide evidence of ongoing outbreaks of psoroptic mange in Wales, and of the first case in northern England. Twenty five outbreaks have now been diagnosed by AHVLA since October 2007.

More, undiagnosed, cases are likely to have occurred during this time. There is a risk of disease spreading from cattle farms where a diagnosis has not been sought, or where disease has been diagnosed and the mite has not been eliminated, or from imported animals from endemically infected countries on mainland Europe.

The AHVLA continues to inform veterinary surgeons and the farming industry of the risk of spread, and requirements for successful treatment. A paper entitled ‘The clinical features of psoroptic mange cases in GB’ will shortly be published in the Veterinary Record.

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