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Small ruminant disease surveillance
If you have found something new, unusual, severe, or unresponsive in relation to small ruminant diseases, please contact the SREG veterinary lead Rudolf Reichel (Click on the name for email or phone +44 734 207 0255 or 020 802 6565) or your nearest Veterinary Investigation Centre.
Please note: if you suspect a notifiable disease you must contact APHA immediately.
Explore the diagnoses made by the GB surveillance network through the interactive sheep disease surveillance dashboard.
Small Ruminant Expert Group (SREG) veterinary lead
Rudolf Reichel has been the SREG veterinary lead since January 2023, taking over from Amanda Carson. He leads the Defra-funded small ruminant disease scanning surveillance project in APHA and is a committee member of the Sheep Veterinary Society.
Rudolf also represents APHA regarding small ruminants on the Ruminant Health and Welfare Group.
SREG members
The Small Ruminant Species expert group supports the SREG veterinary lead, and has representation from Veterinary Investigation Officers from all APHA VICs, APHA’s partner PM providers and SRUC Veterinary Services.
In addition, there are APHA members providing expertise for specific disciplines (e.g. epidemiology, virology, bacteriology, pathology, field veterinarians and welfare) and specific diseases (e.g. parasitic diseases). There is also representation from those involved in International Disease Monitoring in APHA.
SREG non-APHA members include representatives from:
- Veterinary Medicines Directorate
- Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute
- Biobest Laboratories
- Axiom Laboratories
- Farm Post Mortems Ltd
- Sheep Veterinary Society
- Goat Veterinary Society
- National Sheep Association (NSA)
- Network of partner PME providers
- SRUC Veterinary & laboratory services
- Food Standards Agency
SREG collaboration
There is also close collaboration between SREG and the following groups:
- AHDB Beef & Lamb
- Ruminant Health & Welfare Group
- National Sheep Association
- Sheep Veterinary Society
- Goat Veterinary Society
- The Moredun Institute
APHA Animal Disease Surveillance Reports
- APHA Veterinary Record monthly disease surveillance report
- Quarterly GB Small Ruminant Disease Surveillance and Emerging Threats reports
- Sheep disease surveillance dashboard
Recent Interesting Cases
- Osteogenesis imperfecta in Valais Blacknose lambs
- Decrease in coccidiosis
- Increase in fetopathy due to Campylobacter
- E. coli Joint Ill in Neonatal Lambs
- Detection of novel viruses in lambs with skin lesions
- Corynebacterium renale causing genito-urinary infection
- Nutritional myopathy in a 5-day-old lamb
- Pieris sp. toxicity in ewes after straying into a garden.
Enhanced Demographic Reports
Disease information
Links to APHA Information notes and alerts on specific diseases or conditions
- Managing liver fluke on hill farms – August 2022
- Summer 2022: Hot weather and potential risks to livestock health and welfare– August 2022
- Extensively managed livestock event focuses on tickborne diseases – April 2021
- An update on joint ill in sheep– January 2021
- Bedding shortage information note - January 2018, revised September 2020
- Guidance document to enable the assessment of risk to livestock post flooding – January 2020 English/Welsh
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Investigation of negated bluetongue cases in small ruminants 2019 - September 2020
- Sheep scab – resistance English | Welsh – July 2020
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Increase in tick numbers and tick-borne diseases reported, particularly in sheep – May 2020
- Investigating abortions in small ruminants - February 2020
- BVD in sheep flocks - letter - September 2019
- Enzootic abortion of ewes - August 2019
- Salmonella information for sheep buyers: English | Welsh
- Sheep scab - the importance of accurate diagnosis - July 2019
- Coccidiosis in sheep - May 2019
- Hypogammaglobulinaemia and other causes of death in neonatal lambs - January 2019
- Information note for farmers on a new strain of Salmonella in sheep - January 2019
- Information note for markets and hauliers on a new strain of Salmonella in sheep - January 2019
- Abortion in sheep – An Update - November 2018
- Salmonella: New strain in sheep - November 2018
- Potential impacts on ruminant health and welfare during hot weather - August 2018
- Report into free ectoparasite examination for sheep in Wales: December 2017 to March 2018 - June 2018
- Sheep Scab information note - January 2018, revised February 2018
- Non-Statutory Zoonoses reports
- Zoonotic risks to pregnant women
- Bovine TB in non-bovine species
- TB Hub: this website also includes information pages on other species including sheep
- Statistics on the active disease surveillance of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) and the Compulsory Scrapie Flock Scheme
Videos
The following videos were created by APHA:
- Free sheep scab testing in Wales, December 2021-March 2022
- APHA Thin Ewe Project
- Successful sampling for Ovine Abortions - YouTube
- Tick Borne Diseases of livestock diagnosis and treatment - YouTube
- High mortality in a sheep flock caused by co-infection of louping ill virus and Tick Borne Fever - YouTube.
Population information
- Livestock Demographic Data Group: sheep population report - 2022
- Livestock Demographic Data Group: goat population report - 2022
- Livestock Demographic Data Group: sheep population report - 2021
- Livestock Demographic Data Group: goat population report - 2021
- Livestock Demographic Data Group: sheep population report - 2020
- Livestock Demographic Data Group: goat population report- 2020
- Livestock Demographic Data Group: sheep population report - 2019
- Livestock Demographic Data Group: goat population report - 2019
- Livestock Demographic Data Group: sheep population report - November 2018
- Livestock Demographic Data Group: goat population report - November 2018
- Livestock Demographic Data Group: sheep population report - November 2017
- Livestock Demographic Data Group: goat population report - November 2017
Further information (external links)
- Code of recommendations for the welfare of livestock: sheep
- Code_of_recommendations_for_the_welfare_of_livestock_-_goats
- Sustainable Control of Parasites in Sheep (SCOPS)
- Knowledge library | AHDB addresses a wide range of animal health and fertility issues for cattle and sheep including bull/ram performance, parasite control and effective flock/herd health programmes
- Nadis A – Z directory of diseases. NADIS also publish monthly parasite alerts on their website
- Responsible Use of Medicines in Agriculture (RUMA): RUMA guidelines for the responsible use of antimicrobials by sheep farmers have been designed to give easy-to-read guiding principles that can be used by sheep producers in the management of their flocks
- Antiparasitics – RUMA: Guidance on the use of anthelmintics and antiparasitics
- Sheep and goats: health regulations - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk): Guidance on diseases and health problems in sheep and goats including foot and mouth disease (FMD), scrapie and lead poisoning, disease prevention and control, disposal of fallen stock, lead poisoning, hormonal treatments and antibiotics, and record keeping.