Dick Sibley

Veterinary surgeon working with cattle and other farm animals, hoping to make their lives better & healthier so that they can make our lives better & healthier

[Dick Sibley @dicksibley]

To all dairy farmers! Come and see how Johnes can be eliminated from a modern, commercial dairy herd by management and husbandry rather than culling lots of cows. And hear how Lely technology can help keep your cows clean and well fed, as well as milked. @LelyHolsworthy

[Dick Sibley @dicksibley]

@PhilFarmVet @paddyvet @bovinetb Welcome news indeed!But at a cost: in the three counties of Cornwall, Devon and Dorset, slaughtered cattle have gone up from 6761 to 8410 in the year to June,and the number of herds non-OTF (the key economic and political metric) remains stubbornly at 7.8%, same as in 2021.

[Dick Sibley @dicksibley]

Here’s a scandal: I’m at Lord’s for a relaxing day watching England v Sr Lanka. I go to the bar for a coffee and get directed to the milk. This what I get offered. It’s not milk. None of it. It’s processed fats and proteins that turns your coffee white. It’s a disgrace!

[Dick Sibley @dicksibley]

@BobFlemming73 @terrierview @julian_voelcker @Sirbrianmay We can do better, and Gatcombe is just one example. We have plenty other solutions, and examples of total failure of statutory controls. Culling will stop: period. We can’t leave a void of control.

[Dick Sibley @dicksibley]

@BobFlemming73 @terrierview @julian_voelcker @Sirbrianmay Well spotted Bob. But the badgers have been a massive diversion from the major realities. When the policy fails and culling stops, Government will default to cattle vaccination and that could be a disaster for SW cattle farming. My motives are to protect SW cattle production.

[Dick Sibley @dicksibley]

@terrierview @julian_voelcker @Sirbrianmay I’m thinking that we started the M.bovis journey because people were catching the disease from infected milk. They still are in many parts of the world. I presume they are drinking it rather than snorting it.

[Dick Sibley @dicksibley]

@terrierview @julian_voelcker @Sirbrianmay Are you suggesting that NVL reactors don’t have Tb? That would cause us a lot of issues, including defining the specificity of the skin test and gamma. Interesting suggestion. (Not from me - I have confidence in the specificity of SICCT, and high spec version of gamma)

[Dick Sibley @dicksibley]

@terrierview @julian_voelcker @Sirbrianmay Yep, so why do folks keep using the 56% figure??? Surely not to exaggerate the effect? And as you will know, as you have read it in full, that Dr Birch clearly states that he is unable to differentiate the effects of testing changes etc from the effect of killing badgers.

[Dick Sibley @dicksibley]

@terrierview @julian_voelcker @Sirbrianmay I think the 56% reduction was in confirmed outbreaks: Birch gave reasons, quite fairly, why he excluded unconfirmed, which are now the majority. Most reactors are NVL. VL reactors have been declining for a long time. But the headline from the introduction has been used.

[Dick Sibley @dicksibley]

@julian_voelcker @Sirbrianmay No worries about not understanding the science: it is difficult and complex. Infection route plays a big part in the immunology and pathology. Similarly with their claims of 56% reduction in cull areas. It’s worth reading the whole paper rather than just the intro.

[Dick Sibley @dicksibley]

@julian_voelcker @Sirbrianmay I presume you have read it. What did you think of the group selection? To save you trouble reading it again, they were all respiratory infections with lesions. Ours were oral infections no lesions. In fact none of ours were reactors. I hope DEFRA have been killing the right cows

[Dick Sibley @dicksibley]

@BobFlemming73 @GarethEnticott @PhilipOnions @PhilLatham I was taking the figure from the quarterly statistics, last published by DEFRA June 2024: the herd incidence in Devon to March 24 was 15.8%. Google AI tells me that to year end March 24 it was 11.5% in Pembrokeshire. Not sure which is right, and just shows how data can vary.

[Dick Sibley @dicksibley]

Kick off is 9.00pm Friday, BBC2 for anyone interested. Should be good. I’ll join in the fun after that. Watch this space.

[Dick Sibley @dicksibley]

@PhilipOnions @PhilLatham No idea about surviving numbers.Still see a few around for sure. As for sorting TB, the real reservoir is in relatively few endemically infected farms, like Gatcombe.Get them sorted and the problem will go away.We know who they are, but they need help and support to deal with it

[Dick Sibley @dicksibley]

@PhilipOnions @PhilLatham No, I’m saying that thousands of badgers have been killed on over 80% of the land area of Devon for the past 4+ years and we still have a herd prevalence of 15%, the highest in Europe. I don’t think that is success.

[Dick Sibley @dicksibley]

@BerwynClarke @DavidOldbr15018 @CamillatheScot @BobFlemming73 @PhilLatham @GarethEnticott Hi Berwyn! It was you test that got us in to this! And we are still going. But thanks to actiphage and pdbio. We’d love to use it more. It’s a great technology.

[Dick Sibley @dicksibley]

@CamillatheScot @DavidOldbr15018 @BobFlemming73 @PhilLatham @GarethEnticott The fence was installed on government advice several years ago before I got involved. It’s 2inch square mesh buried to 60cm and taken to6 feet high. The herd was purchased 1 year after installation completed, and first tb diagnosed 2 years later.

[Dick Sibley @dicksibley]

@CamillatheScot @DavidOldbr15018 @BobFlemming73 @PhilLatham @GarethEnticott Housing and productivity does seem to make much difference. One of our other study herds is a small organic beef herd of Devons. badgers are excluded by 7km of badger proof fencing around the farm. Half the herd have now gone with tb. Transmisssion probably via uterus or milk.

[Dick Sibley @dicksibley]

@Michaelfagwrfra @BobFlemming73 @PhilLatham @GarethEnticott Good question. One of our other study herds is a small organic beef herd of pedigree Devon cattle. Similar problem going on. Their badgers are excluded by a 7km badger proof fence around the farm. Their “stress” is around calving, when we know their is a natural immunosuppression

[Dick Sibley @dicksibley]

@DavidOldbr15018 @CamillatheScot @BobFlemming73 @PhilLatham @GarethEnticott In hindsight we should have been stricter with breeding from known infected cows and keeping offspring.We now see vertical and pseudovertical transmission. At the last opportunity window we tested 50 high risk animals with Elisa and all neg.We’d like to repeat but can’t.

[Dick Sibley @dicksibley]

@DavidOldbr15018 @CamillatheScot @BobFlemming73 @PhilLatham @GarethEnticott The dairy herd is housed all year: it last went OTF (officially tb free) in May 24. We have had a few OTFS incidents, and we will get more. We think there are still some infected animals in it. But we are not allowed to look!