Bill's Blog
Let’s take the axe to...... |
The impressive giant ram in Wagin W.A. needs only one more fold up front to cause a tremor felt as far away as Esperance as the ol’ traditional boy comes toppling from his perch.....
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| Vaccinate to prevent? Wishful thinking! | |
| Posted on Jul 28 2013 at 11:55:45 AM | |
| The flaw in the 'Vaccinated versus Unvaccinated' trading status is that it relies on the notion that vaccine prevents OJD. It doesn't! This is not like 5 in 1. It is a tool that suppresses but doesn't eliminate infection. So ' vaccinate and prevent' is not an evidence based strategy. Far better to protect your 'clean' flock by avoiding the purchases of sheep from infected flocks as even if they are vaccinated, research shows overwhelmingly that if they are from an infected flock, vaccinates will shed Mptb at levels that are highly infectious. PW | |
| DIFFERENT LOOK ....CHANGE OF TOPIC.....WHO SAW WHAT AT BENDIGO? | |
| Posted on Jul 22 2013 at 10:19:19 PM | |
| Did I miss something by not attending Bendigo Sheep Show....kind of warm in the laboratory testing your samples over the weekend!! | |
| Vaccine cost is one more reason we need an effective control program | |
| Posted on Jul 11 2013 at 07:35:48 AM | |
| Again these are valid observations on this insidious disease, with the breakdown of some long term testing an MAP flocks requiring that vaccine becomes the preferred strategy when biosecurity fails. However it is a huge economic burden to vaccinate flocks at low risk of OJD and as the role of the vaccine is not to prevent infection but to suppress the disease and help manage losses, then class for everyone to vaccinate all sheep for OJD are not evidence-based. To reiterate, use biosecurity where infection risk is low & vaccinate where risk is moderate to high or infection has already been diagnosed; you know it makes sense. | |
| Vaccinate | |
| Posted on Jul 09 2013 at 11:24:22 PM | |
| Vaccination would appear to be the most effective way to control OJD. However to encourage growers to do this the vaccine needs to be much less costly.It is as simple as a needle applied while in the lamb marking cradle.Bring down the cost and most growers will jump on board. | |
| Vacinate - Yes | |
| Posted on Jul 04 2013 at 01:36:51 PM | |
| After getting OJD from a flock that had been testing for more than a decade. We have been vaccinating for 5 years, this year only one age group of ewes have not been treated after a very tough autumn in the western district the mortality rate in this mob is high. Therefore I would recommend for everybody to vaccinate their flock as a safe guard to infection. No amount of negative test guarantees a flock to be free of OJD. | |
| Testing vs Vaccinating | |
| Posted on Jun 30 2013 at 10:59:45 AM | |
| If vaccinating means that our sheep can still shed/carry OJD. So should we even bother to vaccinate? When testing our sheep, are we going to test the younger healthier sheep or our older ewes and the ones not doing so well? Which way works. We will keep vaccinating. |
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| OJD uncertainties | |
| Posted on Jun 24 2013 at 03:13:44 PM | |
| These comments show us the great difficulty we have with managing OJD as it is so bleeding insidious, with diagnostic and control options about probabilities ie the more the 'clean' flock is tested without a positive then the more confidence we have that it is likely to be truly negative, and the more vaccine is used in an 'infected' flock over a considerable period of time then the less likelihood that animals will get OJD and shed infection. This means the disease needs to be managed in very different ways in the different zones, although with the hullaballoo about the new OJD program the politically influential amongst us managed to got zoning removed for some reason that escapes me. I have never previously seen an effective disease control program without zoning as the most powerful disease control tool that exists is to protect the uninfected population from being exposed to the infected population, usually by restricting movement. Still, hopefully the new program can work without zones as people in areas where there is minimal disease are becoming more aware of the risks and are learning more about the importance of biosecurity and those where it exists know they need vaccine to minimise the eventual losses. Peter Windsor |
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| I dare | |
| Posted on Jun 23 2013 at 08:39:36 PM | |
| I'm a commercial grower. We know Gudair can "mask" the disease if present. So I vaccinate thinking I'm doing the right thing only to find years later it's been lurking all the while. Do I have it now? My stock are healthy high performers. I suspect those confirmed with the disease have a flock full of healthy high performers with the odd straggler, everybody has them. The truth is, the testing isn't 100% accurate, vaccinating doesn't guarantee protection, I'm not convinced I should be doing any different to what I've been doing, and no, I'm not sticking my head in the sand! There are no viable options for me at this stage. I'm not about to start vaccinating! |
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| Control and protected? | |
| Posted on Jun 15 2013 at 01:08:11 AM | |
| In response to Peter Windsor's last comment...are you actually using Control and Protected zones, re your commentary, in past tense? I assumed these 'zones' have now been abolished as I'm sure there is no mention of them in the new Sheep Health Statement (SHS). It seems there is now more of an honesty system centering on the SHS tick the box yes/no style of confirmation on OJD control history. Why does this freak me out? I know a bloke who ticked a box once which helped instate that Union guy, you know...the one with the credit card who thought dating hookers was a fair thing whilst 'happily' married! is a subsidised, national plan suggesting that all 'inside' country sheep growers need to participate in a 'cheap' PFC 100 style test every two years a valid proposal? Someone suggested once that if you have no local worries on OJD then don't vaccinate. Who now dares to be that smug?! BillyFibreLustre |
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| Assessing the risk | |
| Posted on Jun 13 2013 at 10:26:46 AM | |
| The comments about location are on the money as we have very good evidence that OJD is zonal in Australia (unlike NZ) and the OJD risk of sourcing sheep is much lower from the areas mentioned plus the New England and western NSW. However there has been a very strong push against 'lines on maps' that have been used to display this zonal distribution (proposed protected areas). Also vaccination has been claimed to significantly reduce risk of trade from flocks in the infected zone (proposed control zone). Whilst this is certainly the case, longitudinal studies on shedding rates in vaccinating flocks in the 'control zone' suggest great caution should be exercised. If you are currently free of OJD, perhaps it may be prudent to be you asking questions on where your rams are from and how well tested the flock of origin is as part of your farm biosecurity plan. Peter Windsor |
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| But.... | |
| Posted on Jun 07 2013 at 11:00:36 PM | |
| Interesting comment from Peter Windsor yet is anyone in their own right mind going to purchase ewes from a vaccinated yet INFECTED flock in the first place? Surely purchasing 'safer' ewes from the bush of Queensland and South Australia and attempt to straighten out the meagre quality after that would make sense as opposed to risking the 'bug!' Comment please.... N.Q. Sitive |
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| OJD vaccinates from infected flocks may be infected | |
| Posted on Jun 03 2013 at 12:22:51 PM | |
| Here we go again on OJD with yet another plea for biosecurity. Research consistently shows that Gudair(TM) does not prevent disease or shedding of huge numbers of infectious organisms from some animals in OJD infected flocks. If you are an uninfected flock then you need to assess the risk of buying vaccinates from infected flocks & be concerned that if testing is not current, then the risk may be higher than you think even if vaccination has been practised diligently for an extended period. There is nothing Orwellian about speaking up for the science when glib statements are used to dismiss real risks of disease transmission. Peter Windsor |
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| Chick Olsson | |
| Posted on Jun 03 2013 at 11:53:40 AM | |
| Hi Bill, agree with "vaccinated" or "non vaccinated" status for selling sheep. Any more than this is a return to Orwellian 1984, and socialist impositions on rights of the free market, often disguised under terms of better animal health... the market will work out this situation perfectly if left alone.... Nice web page and your sheep are amazing cheers Chick Olsson 0403 045 664 |
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| VACCINATE JUST VACCINATE! | |
| Posted on Jun 02 2013 at 10:02:14 PM | |
| Thanks for the comments.... would like to see even more flowing especially in relation to the OJD discussion. This debate is the centrepiece for the CULLINGS NEWSLETTER this year and the more I research, the more frustrating this whole shibang becomes. Here's one for you...Gudair vaccine a lot cheaper in Vic. than S.A. in volume! Keep it coming! W.W |
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| Posted on Jun 02 2013 at 03:02:27 PM | |
| To be or not to be could be easily mistaken for shakespere drama. If everyone vaccinated it would mean that finally farmers are becoming proactive about the OJD problem instead of reactive. It just seems to easy to say it is to expensive and it will never happen to me and then blame the neighbour if it does. Oh if only all of lifes decisions where so easy. Vaccinate and prevent. | |
| Posted on May 27 2013 at 07:44:44 PM | |
| SA has as many confirmed OJD infected properties than WA,(number in the 50's) so what is the problem in letting sheep in from other states??? Unfortunately you are not going to stop this disease, and for all the money time and effort put into this, worms and worm resistance is a bigger health and production wasting problem in the sheep system than OJD. | |
| OJD COMMENTARY PLEASE..... | |
| Posted on May 24 2013 at 12:45:46 AM | |
| THIS COULD BE A GREAT FORUM AREA FOR YOUR COMMENTARY ON ALL ASSOCIATED FACETS OF THE OJD DISCUSSION. LET'S START WITH THIS FROM A CLIENT...."The OJD zoning nationally is easy, VACCINATED and NOT VACCINATED, and that's it!" YOUR THOUGHTS PLEASE...... |
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| Posted on May 23 2013 at 06:45:06 PM | |
| Now that's a balanced response! Ha get it...balanced compared to the ram toppling over due to that neck roll... | |
| Posted on May 23 2013 at 11:07:27 AM | |
| Think you might need something bigger than that to bring the big fella down!! Just think of him as a stark reminder to the next generation of how far we have come in the improvement of the Merino and the fact that we really never ever want to go back. | |
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