Notifiable diseases Flashcards
What is a notifiable disease, name some examples?
A disease which is named in section 88 of the Animal Health Act 1981
- Foot and Mouth Disease, Sheep Pox, Sheep Scab, Swine Fever
What is the law on reporting notifiable diseases?
Section 15(1) of the Animal Health Act 1981 says that: “any person having in their possession or under their charge an animal affected or suspected of having one of these diseases must, with all practicable speed, notify that fact to a police constable.“
What are the aims of making a disease notifiable?
- To prevent the introduction of specified diseases into Great Britain
- To eradicate, control or prevent the spread of specified diseases of economic, animal health, animal welfare, or public health importance
Why make a disease notifiable?
- Public health significance
- Economic impact on the agricultural industry
- International Trade impact
- Animal welfare impact
What is the purpose of diseases being notifiable?
- To collect information about the disease
- To confirm absence e.g. bluetongue
- To detect quickly
- To control as part of compulsory disease control programme by the state
- To facilitate international trade
- To prevent risks to the public
Describe bluetongue, its hosts and vector
- A non-contagious insect transmitted infectious disease of sheep caused by the bluetongue virus (BTV) and carried by cattle, buffalo, goats, deer (silent)
- Only spread by biting midges: Culicoides sp.
- Notifiable
Porcine epidemic diarrhoea is managed as a notifiable disease differently from other notifiable diseases in pigs. The two main elements of the legislation for PED as a notifiable disease are that…?
- Pig-keepers, their veterinary surgeons or veterinary laboratories must report suspect and confirmed cases of PED in pigs kept in England to the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA).
- APHA is permitted to share identifying details of suspect and confirmed PED cases for disease control purposes with the industry levy board, AHDB Pork.
Name 3 endemic notifiable diseases of cattle
- Tuberculosis
- Anthrax
- Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE)
Name 3 notifiable diseases of sheep
- Anthrax
- Scrapie
- Sheep scab
Name 2 notifiable diseases of poultry
Avian influenza
Newcastle disease
Name the 7 Critical Success Factors for controlling notifiable diseases
- Knowledge of the epidemiology and ecology of the organism
- Means of identifying infected animals
- Ability to eliminate the pathogen once identified
- Ability to stop reintroduction of the pathogen onto premises
- Cooperation of all sectors of the industry
- Financial Resources
- Infrastructure
Explain why lameness in dairy cows would not be notifiable?
- It is multifactorial; this would make definitive diagnosis difficult, so confirming eradication would be impossible
- There is no international agreement on the diagnostic criteria.
- It is very prevalent, making the costs excessive
- It is not zoonotic
How are control measures decided?
- A reduction in the level of contamination of the organism?
- Complete elimination of the organism?
Other factors: - The cost of applying the legal requirements to disease control must be reasonable
- Availability of solutions: if there is no single, effective solution, then making a disease notifiable is not really viable
What are the 3 most important parts of controlling a notifiable disease?
- Minimise contact
- Vaccination
- Treatment
How can contact be minimised?
- Movement controls, Farm, protection and surveillance zones.
- Slaughter of individual animals (BSE)
- Selective slaughter of affected animals or groups (TB)
- Whole herd slaughter (FMD, TB)
- Biosecurity
