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Increasing vet and sheep flock interactions in dairy practice
Abstract
Sheep medicine has traditionally been a low priority for cattle-dominated practice, as it is commonly thought that there is minimal financial opportunities in this sector. The perception has been that the vet’s role regarding sheep is that of an emergency care provider and that farmers would be reluctant to pay for training and preventive advice. As such, this has inhibited investment in sheep services within farm animal practices that predominantly focus on dairy cattle, as these services are deemed less lucrative revenue streams for the business (Bellet and others 2015). In this article, we explore the challenges associated with delivering sheep preventive medicine within private veterinary practice, and look at how, by harnessing positive relationships with commercial flock owners, farm animal practices can develop this service.
... Similarly, dairy farmers have been reported to call out the veterinarian based on a cost-benefit calculation [51]. Therefore, it is imperative that farmers are increasingly aware of the distinction between 'positive veterinarian spend' (proactive) and 'negative veterinarian spend' (re-active), as previously framed [52]. ...
In 2014, best-practice recommendations to treat and control lameness in sheep in the UK were consolidated into a national program, the Five-Point Plan (5PP). As recent evidence suggests that only the minority of sheep farmers are implementing all management practices listed in the 5PP, qualitative investigation is vital to ensure future promotion is aligned with psychological and contextual factors affecting farmers’ decision-making. This qualitative study sought to explore farmers’ attitudes and the factors affecting uptake of best-practice measures listed in the 5PP. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in 2019 with 12 sheep farmers from England and Wales. In accordance with Thematic Analysis and the principles of Grounded Theory, data collection and analysis were performed iteratively. Two overarching themes, delineated by subthemes, emerged during analysis; (1) Barriers to adoption of 5PP measures and (2) Motivation to adopt 5PP measures. Various farmer-centric factors and physical resources were identified as key barriers or obstacles that limited farmers’ ability to implement 5PP measures outright, or restricted their ability to make changes to facilitate future adoption. Conversely, internal and external influences were identified to increase farmers’ willingness and motivation to implement practices listed on the 5PP. Heterogeneity in farmer perceptions, attitudes, experiences and circumstances identified in this study highlights the difficulty in promoting a one-size-fits-all lameness control plan, where a unique combination of intrinsic factors, social influences, and physical restrictions affect implementation. Future initiatives should focus on removing barriers by changing farmers’ perceptions and mindset towards lameness control, and building farmers’ confidence in their ability to implement practices. Furthermore, farmers’ social licence to farm and their desire to improve their reputation within society, presents an important opportunity to further engage farmers in implementing control practices. Increasing peer-to-peer knowledge transfer opportunities and effective farmer-veterinarian communication and rapport could help establish 5PP measures as normative behaviours.
Background: The neonatal period is acknowledged to be the riskiest phase of rearing for the loss of lambs with adaption to the extrautero world, an appropriate environment, successful passive transfer, overcoming the threat of pathogen challenge and a strong maternal‐neonatal interaction essential for success. Unfortunately, despite significant research and focus on this phase, there haven't been significant improvements in lamb survival in recent years. Aim of the article: This article considers the obstacles to implementing change on sheep farms and reviews the evidence base for recommendations to be used on farm.
La maladie animale entre visions ontologique et fonctionnelle en élevage biologique Jacques CABARET (1) , Christian NICOURT (2) Résumé : Les concepts de maladie sont multiples et dépendent de celui qui la déclare (« sick »-l'animal ou le propriétaire, « diseased »-le vétérinaire ou « ill »-l'assurance-maladie) ou de la cause supposée de la maladie. La vision ontologique, centrée sur les pathogènes cause de maladie est en opposition avec la vision fonctionnelle fondée sur le malade. La vision fonctionnelle, qui décrit la maladie comme une rupture de l'équilibre au sein de l'animal malade est très fréquente en élevage biologique. Nous avons construit la théorie holistique des trois mondes (symptômes, étiologie et traitements) de la maladie. L'importance de chacun de ces mondes varie selon la personne en charge de l'animal. Une vision diachronique (historique) des symptômes est du domaine de l'éleveur, une vision synchronique (à un moment donné) des symptômes et celle des traitements à envisager sera du registre du vétérinaire, et le laboratoire de diagnostic se concentrera sur l'étiologie de la maladie. Il faudra confronter les trois mondes et leurs agents pour établir un portrait complet de la maladie. Mots-clés : maladie animale, agriculture biologique, étiologie, clinique, thérapeutique, interdisciplinarité.
Background: Unfortunately, illthrift in ewes is a problem that vets are faced with very often. Illthrift represents both a health and a welfare concern – under-conditioned sheep do not receive enough food (which is against the freedom from hunger and thirst under the Animal Welfare Act 2006), and/or are affected by disease (which is against the freedom from pain, injury and disease under the Animal Welfare Act 2006). Illthrift in ewes also represents a significant barrier to profitability – to be profitable, a flock must be optimising the efficiency of conversion of the primary feeding source into marketable products (ie, meat, milk or wool). Therefore, it is key that all of these implications of illthrift are addressed as soon as possible to achieve the best outcome for the animals and the farmers.
Aim of the article: This article provides an overview on the importance of illthrift in flock profitability, how to recognise an illthrift problem, what the main causes of illthrift are, and how to intervene for a successful outcome for the clients, their animals and the vet. The emphasis of this article will be on flock medicine; the principles of investigations and causes of disease will vary in individual animals. Subsequently, a modified list of differentials should be considered on a case-by-case basis.
The farm animal veterinary profession in the UK has faced a number of challenges in recent decades related to the withdrawal of government funding and a contraction of the agricultural sector. They have come under pressure to respond by developing skills and focusing on disease prevention advisory services. However, this puts veterinarians in competition with other providers of these services, and moves in this direction have only been partial. Failure to respond to these challenges puts the veterinary profession at risk of de-professionalisation − a loss of their monopoly over knowledge, an erosion of client beliefs in their service ethos and a loss of work autonomy. This paper explores how farm animal veterinarians in England perceive these challenges and are responding to them.
Recent independent UK government reports and studies have highlighted the importance, but lack, of flock health services provided by veterinarians. Qualitative interviews were analysed by thematic analysis to construct belief statements to understand veterinarians' opinions on preventative advice and drivers for current services to sheep farmers. A postal questionnaire was sent to 515 sheep practices registered with the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeon (RCVS) in England and Wales in 2012 to gather quantitative data on these belief statements and to gather demographic information and current services provided by the veterinarian. Exploratory factor analysis with heuristic approaches was conducted on the respondents' belief statements to identify common factors of veterinarian beliefs. Three main factors were identified: motivation for proactiveness, perceived capability to offer preventative services and perceived opportunity to deliver these services. A beta regression model was built to identify the factors significantly associated with the time veterinarians spent in an advisory role. The relative proportion of time increased by 10% (1.01-1.19), 16% (1.03-1.30) and 29% (CI: 1.09-1.53) for each unit increase in score for factor 1 motivation, factor 2 capability and factor 3 opportunity respectively, indicating that these latent factors explained time veterinarians spent in an advisory role with sheep clients. There was a significant correlation between these factors suggesting influence of the associated beliefs between factors. This study provides insight into the nature and drivers of veterinarians' current behaviour and beliefs. These results could be further tested in behaviour intervention studies and help in designing efficient strategies aiming at promoting proactive health services offered by veterinarians on sheep farms in England and Wales.
Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
British sheep farmers were invited to complete a questionnaire about the impact of Schmallenberg virus (SBV) on animal health, welfare and their own emotional wellbeing during the 2011-2012 lambing season, through Defra and Farming Industry websites, letters to farmers who had requested SBV laboratory tests and advertisement at Sheep 2012. The 494 responders included SBV confirmed (positive by RT-PCR) (n=76), SBV suspected by farmer (n=140) or SBV not suspected (n=278). Percentage of barren ewes was similar across SBV groups, however, lamb and ewe losses were higher on responder farms where SBV was confirmed or suspected. The median percentages of all lambs born (and lambs born deformed ) that died within one week of birth was 10.4 per cent (5.5 per cent), 7.0 per cent (2.9 per cent) and 5.3 per cent (0 per cent), respectively, on SBV confirmed, suspected and not suspected farms (P<0.001). Eight to 16 per cent of SBV confirmed or suspected farms reported lamb mortality of ≥40 per cent. Farmer perceived impact was greater where SBV was confirmed or suspected (P<0.001): 25 per cent reported a high impact on emotional wellbeing (4 per cent of SBV not suspected), 13 per cent reported a high impact on flock welfare and financial performance and 6 per cent were less likely to farm sheep next year because of SBV (<2 per cent in SBV not suspected). Overall, SBV impact has been large relative to reported sheep loss.
A 2009 UK Government report on veterinary expertise in food animal production highlighted that there was insufficient herd health expertise among veterinarians and lack of appropriate business models to deliver veterinary services to the livestock sector. Approximately two thirds of sheep farmers only contact their veterinarian for emergencies and one fifth have all year round contact. The aim of the current study was to understand sheep farmers' perception, the current and future role of veterinarians in flock health management using qualitative methodology. The eligibility criteria were male farmers with a flock size of at least 200 adult sheep. Seven focus groups of farmers (n=45) stratified by three regions and two age groups (≤50 and >50) were conducted. Thematic analysis of the discussions indicated that most farmers considered and used their veterinarian as a fire-fighter, whilst other advice was gathered free of charge when the veterinarian was on the farm for other reasons (typically seeing cattle) or by telephone. A small group of farmers were using their veterinarian or a sheep consultant proactively with regular contact and found this financially beneficial. Farmers indicated that the key barriers to using a veterinarian proactively were inconsistent service, high turnover of veterinarians, lack of expertise of sheep farming among veterinarians and concern about independence of advice. Although economics was also mentioned as a key barrier to using veterinarians more proactively, most farmers did not know where they gained and lost income from their flock; there was heavy reliance on the single farm payment scheme (SPS) and very few farmers kept records from which they could investigate where there were inefficiencies in production. Overall sheep farmers considered sheep farming complex and that each farm was unique and that they themselves were the experts to manage their flock. We conclude that there is an impasse: veterinarians might need to provide consistency and wide expertise beyond knowledge of disease and a model of how flock planning would be financially beneficial but until sheep farmers keep production records flock health planning cannot be rigorous and the financial benefits cannot be evaluated. Given the reliance on SPS by farmers an alternative model would be to require farmers to keep production records to comply with SPS. This might lead to flock health planning being adopted at a faster rate and so develop the UK sheep industry and make it more environmentally sustainable by reducing waste from disease and low productivity.
The recording of both incidence and prevalence of lameness of the bovine on a farm level is poor across the world with a limited ability to meaningfully collate data across multiple herds as well as relying on repeatable lameness nomenclature and recording system. This study retrospectively analyses the data from a large veterinary practice in the southwest of England employing 7 trained veterinary-led foot trimmers. The study also compares the most recent lesion prevalence with similar analyses performed in both 2008/9 and 2012 to the results from 2014/5.
Monepantel resistance was diagnosed during routine monitoring of the effectiveness of a farm's roundworm control strategy. Weaned lambs had become ill thrifty and developed diarrhoea, despite the routine use of monepantel. This clinical presentation was caused by trichostrongylosis. The faecal egg count reduction was 76.7% (95% CI: 55.1-82.2%) following treatment with 2.5 mg/kg monepantel. Predominantly Trichostrongylus vitrinus along with small proportions of Oesophagostomum venulosum and Trichostrongylus vitrinus were identified by deep amplicon sequencing of pools of larvae recovered from pre and post monepantel treatment coprocultures and on postmortem examinations. The undifferentiated FECRT showed resistance to monepantel, but not to levamisole, ivermectin, or moxidectin. Examination of farm anthelmintic treatment and animal movement records suggested that treatments before movement onto silage aftermaths, putatively with low numbers of susceptible nematodes in refugia, may have placed a high selection pressure on monepantel resistance. Effective control of parasitic gastroenteritis using anthelmintic drugs is a prerequisite for sustainable sheep production. This case reiterates the need for care when combining anthelmintic treatments with movements to safe grazing, and the value of monitoring of anthelmintic efficacy as part of iterative planned animal health management.
Ovine psoroptic mange (sheep scab) is an infection of substantial economic and animal welfare concern in the UK. Its prevalence has increased rapidly over the last 20 years and management is dependent on a small number of acaricidal compounds, many of which are also used to control a range of other endoparasites and ectoparasites. Here, the effects of the macrocyclic lactone (ML) moxidectin was considered using in vitro assays against mites from four farm populations where persistent treatment failure had been reported: two in West Wales, one from the England/Wales border and one in Herefordshire. The data demonstrate resistance in mites from all four farms. This is the first quantitative evidence of ML resistance in Psoroptes mites in the UK. Given the similarities in their mode of action it is highly likely that cross-resistance across the range of this class of compound will be found. The development of resistance to moxidectin is of considerable concern given the already high prevalence of scab infection in some regions; major difficulties in scab management should be anticipated if ML resistance becomes widely established in the UK.
The aim of this study was to examine the variation in antibiotic usage between 207 commercial sheep flocks using their veterinary practice prescribing records. Mean and median prescribed mass per population corrected unit (mg/PCU) was 11.38 and 5.95, respectively and closely correlated with animal defined daily dose (ADDD) 1.47 (mean), 0.74 (median) (R²=0.84, P<0.001). This is low in comparison with the suggested target (an average across all the UK livestock sectors) of 50 mg/PCU. In total, 80 per cent of all antibiotic usage occurred in the 39 per cent of flocks where per animal usage was greater than 9.0 mg/PCU. Parenteral antibiotics, principally oxytetracycline, represented 82 per cent of the total prescribed mass, 65.5 per cent of antibiotics (mg/PCU) were prescribed for the treatment of lameness. Oral antibiotics were prescribed to 49 per cent of flocks, 64 per cent of predicted lamb crop/farm. Lowland flocks were prescribed significantly more antibiotics than hill flocks. Variance partitioning apportioned 79 per cent of variation in total antibiotic usage (mg/PCU) to the farm level and 21 per cent to the veterinary practice indicating that veterinary practices have a substantial impact on overall antimicrobial usage. Reducing antibiotic usage in the sheep sector should be possible with better understanding of the drivers of high usage in individual flocks and of veterinary prescribing practices.
SHEEP production remains dependent upon the use of effective broad-spectrum anthelmintics to control the production limiting effects of gastrointestinal nematodes (GINs) and negative health and welfare impacts associated with parasitic gastroenteritis (PGE).
All major sheep-producing countries have reported resistance to the three ‘older’ groups of broad-spectrum anthelmintics; the 1-BZ, 2-LV and 3-ML groups (Kaplan and Vidyashankar 2012, Rose and others 2015). Of concern are recent reports of the rapid development of multigeneric resistance to monepantel, a novel anthelmintic of the 4-AD group (Scott and others 2013, Mederos and others 2014, Van den Brom and others 2015).
Anthelmintic resistance (AR), the heritable ability of GINs to tolerate a normally effective dose of an anthelmintic (Abbott and others 2013), has been responsible for outright failure of anthelmintics to control PGE (Sargison and others 2005, Wilson and Sargison 2007, Scott and others 2013, Mederos and others 2014, Van den Brom and others 2015). When involving multiple anthelmintic groups, resistance has reportedly led to the closure of flocks in the UK (Sargison and others 2005, Blake and Coles 2007). Suboptimal production, a consequence of early AR, has often remained unrecognised in flocks until laboratory-based or faecal egg count reduction tests (FECRTs) have revealed a lack of anthelmintic efficacy.
Surveys in the UK have revealed an upward trend over time in the proportion of flocks with AR (Cawthorne and Cheong 1984, Hong and others 1992, 1996, Bartley and others 2003, Taylor and others 2009, Mitchell and others 2010, Jones and others 2012, Stubbings 2012, Thomas and others 2015).
Results of a survey of faecal egg count reduction efficacy (FECR%) of …
The aim of this study was to investigate the cost-benefit of different strategies to treat and control ovine footrot. In November 2006, 162 sheep farmers in England responded to a survey on prevalence and management of lameness. The costs of lameness per ewe per year (PEPY) were calculated for 116 flocks. Linear regression was used to model the overall cost of lameness PEPY by management method. Associations between farmer satisfaction and time and money spent managing lameness were investigated. The median prevalence of lameness was 5% (inter-quartile range, IQR, 4-10%). The overall cost of lameness PEPY in flocks with >= 10% lameness was UK (sic)6.35 versus (sic)3.90 for flocks with <5% lameness. Parenteral antibiotic treatment was associated with a significantly lower overall cost of lameness by (sic)0.79 PEPY. Routine foot trimming and foot bathing were associated with significantly higher overall costs of lameness PEPY of (sic)2.96 and (sic)0.90, respectively. Farmers satisfied with time managing lameness spent significantly less time (1.46 h PEPY) than unsatisfied farmers (1.90 h PEPY). Farmers satisfied with money spent managing lameness had significantly lower treatment ((sic)2.94 PEPY) and overall ((sic)5.00 PEPY) costs than dissatisfied farmers ((sic)5.50 and (sic)7.60 PEPY, respectively). If the farmers in this study adopted best practice of par enteral antibiotic treatment with no routine foot trimming, and minimised foot bathing to treatment/prevention of interdigital dermatitis, the financial benefits would be approximately (sic)4.65 PEPY. If these costs are similar on other farms the management changes would lead to significant economic benefits for the sheep industry.
The relationship between sheep farmers and their veterinary surgeons is a challenging enigma in modern day farm animal practice. The necessity for flock health planning, disease surveillance and performance monitoring is ever increasing and demanded by legislation, industry and the consumer, but the working dynamic between both parties may be limited or in many cases non-existent. This article will consider the immense value sheep veterinary surgeons can deliver to sheep flocks, positively influencing productivity and animal welfare. It will attempt to define flock health planning and discuss the challenges for both shepherd and veterinary surgeon in embracing and delivering preventative strategies, considering the potential for engagement in the future and the opportunity to deliver innovative practice.
The practice records of a Farm Animal only practice in the South West of England were analysed to assess the caseload experienced in a 12 month period. Only 16% of the holdings were Dairy Farms, but accounted for 79% of the practice turnover. Overall turnover was split into 61% medicines and 39% fees (excluding Defra TB). A FLYMO system is described to aid analysis of professional fees. In the Dairy sector, 33% of professional fees were related to fertility work. In general the proportion of time spent on fertility increased as herd size increased. Number of clinical conditions is reported. In the Beef sector, 37% of medicines prescribed were antibiotics with 64% of these indicated for respiratory conditions. Paraprofessional services contributed 10% of overall turnover of which 69% was foot trimming. The study highlights the requirement for an easy to use on farm tool for accurately recording clinical data/caseload. Dispensing of mastitis medicines in the Dairy sector and respiratory medicines in the Beef sector do not parallel the professional input for these conditions. There is a huge potential for further data analysis for different categories particularly for medicine and antibiotic usage as well as benchmarking between different farm types.
WE would like to report a neonatal lamb scour investigation in which multi-antibiotic resistant enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli with K99 antigen (ETEC K99) isolates were detected in a commercial sheep flock, to illustrate to practitioners that it cannot be assumed that commonly used antibiotic preparations will be effective. The Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) collates laboratory submissions (culture and sensitivity) from the APHA and has previously found that multiresistant E coli isolates were increasing, and accounted for up to 54 per cent of isolates made over the period 2011 to 2013; spectinomycin resistance was observed in 39 to 59 per cent of isolates (VMD 2013).
There are other reports of high prevalences of resistance in neonatal lambs; for example, up to 76 per cent of E coli isolates from lambs in Spain showed resistance to tetracyclines, 50 …
WE would like to raise our concerns with veterinary colleagues over an apparent increase in the number of flocks in the maedi visna (MV) accreditation scheme that have had a breakdown with MV infection. Most of the blood testing for the MV accreditation scheme takes place during the summer months; however, so far this year there have been nine breakdowns with MV infection in accredited flocks and a further five flocks have had positives at qualifying tests. We first highlighted an increase in MV breakdowns in 2010 when there were 13 (Ritchie and Hosie 2010). Since then there have been between five and eight breakdowns each year in MV accredited flocks from the 2600 flocks in the scheme.
In the most serious breakdown this year over 90 per cent of the adult sheep were found to be infected with MV. It is now a salvage operation to try to save some of the genetics in the flock by collecting embryos from some of the more valuable ewes before the flock of 120 high value, pedigree sheep and their offspring are culled. The flock …
AS a response to the difficulties that have faced the farming industry over the past few years, Iain Richards and Richard Knight are developing new ways of communicating and working with farmer clients. Here, they outline the rationale behind their ‘lambing club’ – a scheme they hope will pave the way towards greater involvement with whole flock health, with farmers, vets and animal welfare all benefiting as a result.
A sheep farm situated in the north-east of Spain suffered an outbreak of polyarthritis in lambs from May 2006 until September 2007. The percentage of affected animals at the beginning of the outbreak was 5.71%. This percentage decreased to 1.42% by September 2007.Samples of joint fluid were colleted for culture, and antibiotic susceptibility testing was performed. Streptococcus dysgalactiae was isolated in microbial culture and the testing revealed resistance to tetracycline, a commonly used antibiotic in the treatment of arthritis in sheep. Affected lambs were treated with parenteral lincomycin and dexamethasone with satisfactory results.Nasal, auricular and vaginal samples were collected from 30 ewes in order to evaluate these locations as a reservoir for the bacteria in sheep. No isolation of S. dysgalactiae was obtained from these areas.S. dysgalactiae is also considered an environmental cause of clinical and subclinical mastitis in sheep. Milk samples from 95 affected ewes were collected during the same period of time (20 suffering from clinical mastitis and 75 subclinical mastitis, after performing California Mastitis Test on 400 milking ewes). S. dysgalactiae was isolated in pure culture from the milk sample of one ewe, the mother of a polyarthritic lamb.S. dysgalactiae has been reported as a cause of polyarthritis in calves and goats and it should be considered as a relevant cause of polyarthritis in lambs, the digestive tract being, probably, the main pathway of infection.
Based on the experiences on veterinary consultancy in numerous small ruminant flocks, a “hygiene guideline” was developed, as a modular standard procedure for establishing flock individual health plans. The hygiene plan can be used in whole or in modules according to the needs, the possibilities and the facilities of the flocks. For small flocks and for hobby shepherds, a health plan calendar has been developed. The current situation in the flocks of the “Sheep and Goat Flock Health Service-Hannover” is reflected under the light of the hygiene guidelines. These guidelines and the current situation in the health service are discussed with respect to general needs of health plans for small ruminant flocks.
WE would like to report confirmation of triclabendazole resistance (TCBZ-R) in liver fluke, Fasciola hepatica , from the UK, based on a dose and slaughter trial. Recently, there has been considerable debate regarding the usefulness of reports of triclabendazole treatment failure in liver fluke infected sheep and cattle as an indicator of TCBZ-R (Fairweather 2011, Sargison and Scott 2011). It has been suggested that the diagnosis of TCBZ-R in the field should be based on a combination of diagnostic tests (Fairweather 2011). We used a combination of faecal egg count reduction testing (FECRT) and coproantigen reduction testing (CRT) to demonstrate TCBZ-R in …
Veterinary informatics is the science of structuring, analyzing, and leveraging information in an effort to advance animal health, disease surveillance, research, education, and business practices. Reference and terminology standards are core components of the informatics infrastructure. This paper focuses on three current activities that use reference standards in veterinary informatics: (1) the construction of a messaging standard in a national animal health laboratory network, (2) the creation of breed and species terminology lists for livestock disease surveillance, and (3) the development of a standardized diagnoses list for small animal practices. These and other endeavors will benefit from research conducted to identify innovative and superior tools, methods, and techniques. The authors believe there are many areas requiring study and special focus in order to advance veterinary informatics, and this paper highlights some of the needs and challenges surrounding these areas.
Veterinary medicine and human health are inextricably intertwined. Effective tracking of veterinary information - veterinary informatics - impacts not only veterinary medicine, but also public health, informatics research, and clinical care. However, veterinary informatics has received little attention from the general biomedical informatics community.
To identify both active and under-researched areas in veterinary informatics, we retrieved Medical Subject Heading (MeSH) descriptors for veterinary informatics-related citations and analyzed them by topic category, animal type, and journal.
We found that the categories of veterinary informatics with the most growth were information/bibliographical retrieval, hardware/programming, and radiology/imaging. Less than two articles per year were published in the areas of computerized veterinary medical records, clinical decision support, standards, and controlled vocabularies. Veterinary informatics articles primarily address production animals such as cattle and sheep, and companion animals such as cats and dogs. Six journals account for 31% of the veterinary informatics literature, 35 journals account for 66%.
Veterinary informatics remains an embryonic field with relatively few publications. With the exception of radiology/imaging, published articles are primarily focused on non-clinical areas such as hardware/programming and information retrieval. There are very few publications on controlled vocabularies, standards, methodologies for integrating disparate systems, computerized medical records, clinical decision support systems, and system usability. The lack of publications in these areas may hamper efforts to collect and track animal health data at a time when such data are potentially critical to human health.
The cost of neonatal lamb mortality
- E Gascoigne
- F Lovatt
Developing alternative revenue streams in traditionally cattle dominated farm animal practice – strategies for engaging the non‐engaged
- Gascoigne E.
Causes, control and costs of lameness in sheep
- Lovatt F.
Vets flock to sheep health club events
- Anon
Flock health clubs to be rolled out across the UK
- Anon