Effective mitigation measures against TB
Animal rights campaigners , and farmers across the land will soon be rejoicing at the launch of a group of pioneering new products that are set to save farmers millions of pounds across the country , and also potentially save the lives of untold numbers of cows .
| Animal Health
I an Hughes , the 28 year old director of Farming Solutions ltd , has been involved in farming since he could walk and has recently turned inventor , having identified not only a huge problem for farmers across the country , but also a fantastic solution .
Badgers are common place on English farms , and despite their portrayal in ‘ The animals of Farthing wood ’ they are not actually good news ! British farmers loose on average an eye watering £ 14,000 annually on dealing with the damage caused by TB , often spread by the nocturnal badger in the form of urination and saliva . Not only that , as a result hundreds of thousands of cows must be killed – and ever since January the 1st 2008 , there has been 234,195 cows culled solely due to the rampant virus .
That number , however , could soon plummet considerably with the introduction of TB Busters and its innovative range of solutions to help combat this devastating and costly disease .
“ Whilst you may not be able to completely stop badgers from contaminating your farm , what you can do is take a number of measures to minimize the contact they have with your livestock . I designed and invented the TB Buster mineral stand as a simple and cost effective way of keeping the badgers away from the feed , and the benefits of this expand further than just reducing the risk of TB , it also means the buckets last on average 20 % longer without hampering the cattles ability to eat from it and it has already been approved by the Southwest TB Advice Group , and also scientifically tested by The Royal Agricultural University of Cirencester .
In addition to this I have a number of other products currently being tested ready for launch later in 2017 as recognition for my product and its applications start to grow , and I ’ m due to fund testing for additional badger-proof products that will help farmers stay TB free . I am also now the only company offering completely bespoke individualized solutions to your TB problems one farm at a time - I use high tech night vision cameras to gauge the most problematic areas in each farm and identify where my products will be best used in order to best combat TB , and also to provide farmers with the peace of mind that they are doing their part in reducing the spread of TB in
England .
If this sounds like a problem that you or somebody you know can relate to , you can speak to speak to Alan on : 07890 325264 or see his range of products at www . tbbusters . co . uk
Foot-and-mouth crises to be averted with vaccination strategy
Future outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease ( FMD ) can be controlled effectively and quickly with vaccinations – saving millions of pounds and hundreds of thousands of livestock – according to research by the University of Warwick .
D r Michael Tildesley and Naomi Bradbury in the School of Life Sciences have discovered that a key issue for successfully containing and eradicating a FMD outbreak is to establish how many animals can be vaccinated per day , and tailor controls accordingly .
Using a mathematical model of the UK farming landscape , Dr Tildesley and colleagues simulated numerous scenarios of infection – to varying levels of severity and speed - calculating the most effective and efficient approaches to stave the spread of disease .
Many dangerous uncertainties exist when dealing with epidemics like FMD , such as : the efficacy of vaccinations , the time it takes for livestock to become immune after receiving vaccines , and the number of vaccine doses available . Uncertainty leads to huge potential losses of both money and livestock .
The Warwick FMD model demonstrates that the major uncertainty to be resolved is how many vaccine doses are available . If this is known , the infection can be contained efficiently – even when faced with all other unknown factors .
The 2001 FMD outbreak cost the UK economy an estimated £ 8 billion and led to the culling of approximately seven million livestock .
Using the Warwick FMD model and confirming what vaccination capacity exists , the UK could save up to £ 50 million , and around 200,000 animals could be spared from culling in any future epidemic .
Furthermore , any outbreak using such tailored vaccination can generally be eradicated almost a week sooner than previous outbreaks . Dr Michael Tildesley comments : “ There is always uncertainty in the likely effectiveness of any control strategy for an infectious disease outbreak . However in the case of FMD , if we can accurately determine the daily capacity to vaccinate animals , we can potentially save millions of pounds for the farming industry .”
The paper , ‘ Quantifying the Value of Perfect Information in Emergency Vaccination Campaigns ’ is published in PLOS Computational Biology .
The research was carried out in collaboration with Pennsylvania State University , Vanberbilt University and the United States Geological Survey is funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council ( BBSRC ) and the US National Institutes of Health ( NIH ).
www . farmingmonthly . co . uk March 2017 | Farming Monthly | 21