SLROC Forum

It has been reported in a few [local] papers that the farm we use near Bathgate has had some livestock cullled due to TB.

This situation highlights that we, as people who visit farms and other livestock areas, need to be aware of where we have been, and what we are taking from one site to another.... and from a site to home.

Knowing the farm in question, I know that he has not bought in new livestock for several years - rather he breeds his own Dairy cattle - so the outbreak will have been caused by badgers or birds carrying it in from another farm.... TB does not live for long outside animals, so there is minimal risk in this instance as the cattle have been off the hill for some months.

It is generally advisable to clean your vehicle between off-roading session - paying particular attention to removing the mud and grass that is stuck to the underside of the vehicle.

Let us ensure we do "The Right Thing", and keep other peoples muck off the sites we visit.

Thanks for the info Ian. Luckily my vehicle has not been into the same area as the cows since last weekend - but its getting a total doing before it does. 

Gene.

Bovine TB can take years to manifest itself, so depending on the last time he bought in stock it may well have come in with those beasts. I'd be pretty surprised if birds brought the disease in, more likely badgers, or possibly deer, but not birds.
Even if the beasts have been over wintering in sheds badgers poaching about the steading can introduce the disease, urinating on feed, such as cake, bruised barley or on the silage clamp. Which is in turn fed unwittingly to the beasts, exsposing them to the risk of infection. And all it takes is one animal to become infected, and as they are all is such close proximity whilst in the sheds, the disease can spread far more easily than if they were out in the field. As it is spread predominately vie respiration, so infected beasts coughing on each other will spread the infection. Bovine TB is a zoonotic disease, which means it can be passed from animals to humans, so personal hygine is paramount if you've been around animals that have/may be infected. Certainly stay well away from drinking troughs, even those out in fields, feed and obviously the animals themselves. But to keep it in prespective, the cases of humans becoming infected is negligible, less than 1% of reported tb cases in humans can be attributed to bovine TB, but it always pays to be careful. And in fairness if you're visiting a farm for the purposes of off-roading then there's no need for anyone to be anywhere need the stockyard. Hopefully the farm in question will have no more reactors and this has been an isolated case, but I fear otherwise, like fire engines, where there's one, there's two.

It's a good point to be made though, bio-security on or around farms is a serious buisness, as disease and the associated restrictions thus placed on the affected farm can have a huge effect on the enterprise concerned.

what do you think the possibilitys are of spreading tb by vehicle, not so much ours i would say pretty unlikely but your right PC you should make an effort esp if your visiting other properties, but for say the milk tanker or the milk marketing girl (do they still do that???)  human tb can last for hours airborne in a room, anybody any idea how long bovine tb lasts outside???

I think the actual risk of the disease being spread by vehicle or mud on vehicles is pretty low. Although that's not to say it could never happen, never say never!

Ok here comes the scientific bit!

Badgers and cattle have a different immune response when infected by the disease, cattle will 'wall it off', this pretty much means that cattle will only expel the virus from their system via coughing/sneezing, whereas badgers will excrete the virus via urine, feces, as this is part of their immune response. The disease isn't spread on the air in the same way as foot and mouth can be, the virus is transmitted via water droplets, hence the infection via sneezing/coughing. As stated in my first post, this may occur via cattle drinking from a water trough that an infected badger had scent marked around (pee'd on), or via feed that the infected badger has urinated on, which is then fed unwittingly to the cattle in the sheds.So really the only real risk of humans becoming infected are through direct contact with an infected animal, e.g. herdsman/vet/farmer being coughed or sneezed on by an infected beast.

The bacteria that causes the infection can last outside the host animal for anything up to a few weeks, heat, direct sunlight etc will shorten this time period but cold, dark and moist conditions will prolong the organisms life span, so under a damp. cold water trough in the field is an ideal place where the organism can last a wee bit longer.

Hope this has helped and not confused.

is this reactors to a routine test             or poitively identified as carring tb through slaughter and further examination      there is a world of differance

is this reactors to a routine test             or poitively identified as carring tb through slaughter and further examination      there is a world of differance

Pass..... however the point is that this highlights we need to pay attention to what we do, and not just blithly wander from one off-road adventure to another....

very sensible as well ian but a bit late after you have been there
if it has tb it will be in quarantine with restrictions
what paper was it in

very sensible as well ian but a bit late after you have been there

No - its not to late..... forget this farm, forget this specific incident.... this incident is the spark that allows the conversation to be had.

The conversation is about the next site you go to, its about what you take in as well as what you take out.

2001 had a profound impact on our hobby, on our sport.
TB is a minor issue in comparison.... but I will never forget how 2001 crippled our sport, and I think its never too late to remind people of our responsibilities.