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Sheep organisations release advice amidst EAE vaccine shortage
SVS and SAGG say that it is not appropriate to use any routine prophylactic antibiotics to control abortion.
The guidance will support vets and farmers this tupping season.

The Sheep Veterinary Society (SVS) and the Sheep Antibiotic Guardian Group (SAGG) have issued advice for veterinary surgeons and farmers, as they criticise the lack of enzootic abortion (EAE) vaccine.

The advice offers support to veterinary surgeons and farmers, who may now need to make difficult decisions during tupping season.

On encountering an aborting ewe, veterinary surgeons and farmers are first recommended to isolate the ewe from the rest of the flock. Samples can then be taken to identify which abortion agent might be responsible.

SVS and SAGG say that it is not appropriate to use any routine prophylactic antibiotics to control abortion. They say that antibiotics should only be used in late pregnancy if it is to protect other ewes from an outbreak, or used in a group of ewes following a confirmed laboratory EAE diagnosis the preceding year.

Where flocks have previously been regularly vaccinated against EAE, there will this year be a small number of unvaccinated replacement ewes. The risk to these ewes is low if the remainder of the flock is vaccinated, but they should be marked and vaccinated next year when they are not pregnant.

If flocks are at high risk of disease, due to a recent outbreak or EAE-shedding ewes, sheep could be treated with an inactivated vaccine (Inmeva; Hipra).

Two doses are necessary – the first dose at least five weeks before mating, and the second dose three weeks after the first. A further booster may then be needed within a year. The vaccine can be given safely during pregnancy, with efficacy proven in the mid trimester, but it is not recommended in the final month of pregnancy.

Alternatively, if unvaccinated ewes are confirmed by a laboratory to be at high risk of disease, they can be treated with a single injection of oxytetracycline (at 20mg/kg) between day 91 and 126 of pregnancy.

Groups with lambing spread across four to five weeks should be injected exactly three weeks before the first lamb is due.

Veterinary surgeons are advised to contact MSD Animal Health for more information.

Image © Shutterstock

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Practices urged to audit neutering data

News Story 1
 RCVS Knowledge has called on vet practices to audit their post-operative neutering outcomes.

It follows the release of the 2024 NASAN benchmarking report, which collates data from neutering procedures performed on dogs, cats and rabbits.

The benchmarking report enables practices in the UK and Ireland to compare their post-operative outcomes to the national average. This includes the rate of patients lost to follow-up, which in 2024 increased to 23 per cent.

Anyone from the practice can submit the data using a free template. The deadline for next report is February 2026.

Visit the RCVS Knowledge website to complete an audit. 

Click here for more...
News Shorts
RCVS pays tribute to well-loved equine vet

The RCVS and the Riding Establishments Subcommittee has paid tribute to well-loved veterinary surgeon and riding establishment inspector, Rebecca Hamilton-Fletcher MRCVS.

Linda Belton MRCVS, RCVS President, said: "I, along with my colleagues on the RESC, RCVS Council, RCVS Standards Committee, as well as RCVS staff, was very saddened to hear of the sudden death of Rebecca, or Becca as we knew her, last week.

"She was a true advocate for equine welfare and in her many years on the RESC worked to continually improve the quality and consistency of riding establishment inspections, all in the interests of enhanced horse welfare and rider safety."