Tag Archives: TB case handling

Winding Up

Blog, Scotland, The Vet Who Came In from the Cold, Vet, , , ,

It has been a bit sad, sorting out everything so I can leave with everything in order. Because I haven’t been given any new cases, most of what I’ve been doing is making sure all my cases are completely up to date, before I hand them over. The welfare investigation report is done, though I think it will now go in with someone else’s name on it. The cleansing and disinfection at the bird flu premises hasn’t really got under way yet. The completed paperwork is filed, so nothing more to do there. That leaves my three TB outbreak cases.

Amazingly, the earliest of those cases, which I’ve been working with since summer last year, completed its second, clear, short interval skin test on Friday. Cleansing and disinfection there has already been completed and certified, so as long as the test is completed on the computer system (SAM)by Monday, my last act will be to lift the restrictions so that cattle can move on and off the farm again. That’s always a very satisfying moment. The other two are waiting for their final short interval tests.

There has to be 60 days between skin tests, so cases where TB is confirmed usually take at least six months to get to that point. For both of those two farms, I spent a day there doing a Disease Report Form (or DRF) which is a deep dive into the way the farm runs, to assess where TB might have come from and the risks of spread. On one of them, I joined the Animal Health Officers at the Gamma test, so spent several days on the farm. Over the months, dealing with queries and finding solutions, I have built up a relationship with that farmer.

I haven’t yet told him I’m going. That will happen on Monday, but I’ve set up the test and pre-written a Veterinary Risk Assessment so he can move his young stock outside in spring. The monthly report is completed, as is the completion report on SAM. I’m hoping there will be a smooth run to restrictions being lifted there too. I haven’t been told who I’m handing my cases on to, which is a shame as I’d have liked more time to introduce whoever is replacing me, but it is what it is and I’ve done what I can.

I was on “ready to go” duty from the weekend until Thursday morning, so everything had to stay in my car. I cleared out all my gear yesterday. I’ve emptied my cupboard and my desk. Some of the paperwork will have to be kept because there may be court cases to come, or queries made. But Monday is my last day and a lunch has been arranged. Sadly, some of my best friends can’t come as they are busy, but I’m not moving away, so fully intend to keep in touch.

Next week, I hope to meet another ex-APHA vet for lunch and next Saturday, a group of APHA vets and I are meeting for another escape room experience, so still lots to look forward to, as well as all that is to come with my new job. It’s also spring and the birds have started their courting songs in Blackbird Lane. The variety of daffodils is very pleasing. I’m sure, when I was young, they were almost all identical.

Anyway, I shall leave you with a few pictures of those. Thank you for reading and have a good week.


Another Weekend

Blog, Food, Scotland, The Vet Who Came In from the Cold, Travel, Vet, , , , , , ,

Another weekend is here, and looking back through my photos, most of them are of food! It would be fair to say that, when I’m out walking round a chilly farmyard all day, it is lovely to get back to a hotel, where someone else will cook for me. The picture at the top of the page was a starter – chicken skewers. I followed it up with sweet and sour prawns.

We were staying in the Premier Inn in Ayr, which was very pleasant. I know there are other staff who prefer to go out and find different restaurants to eat in, but for me the benefits of simply walking downstairs and being fed are too tempting to resist. Although the food is obviously mass prepared (it’s fairly consistent from hotel to hotel) I can usually find something I want to eat. I discovered the sweet and sour in Brighton and I would order it again.

I had to laugh at Lesley’s (the animal health officer who had arranged the trip) main course. She had ordered the chicken skewers as a main. I saw it came with flatbread, but hadn’t twigged that there were chips too. What turned up was a plate of chicken skewers (pretty succulent and with that tangy yogurt dip) with a mega flatbread chip butty! Guess it was probably not much more carb overload than mine, with its white rice and sweet sauce, but it looked way less appetizing!

Lesley had booked the rooms and, for the first time ever, I had a Premier room in the Premier Inn. I was impressed to find both a fridge and a coffee machine in the room, though in the end, having tried to coffee machine with the small sachets of cold milk, I reverted to instant decaffeinated with lattes from the restaurant at breakfast. The little bars of chocolate were nice though.

The farm visits went well. We were blood testing the cattle for a TB Gamma test. The traditional test for TB has always been a skin test, where tuberculin (non infectious liquid, derived from the bacteria that cause tuberculosis) is injected into the neck, to see if it causes an immune response . While a positive skin reaction means it’s very likely the cow has tuberculosis, a non-reaction isn’t a good guarantee that she doesn’t have it. With the gamma test, some cows without TB might have a positive result, but it can pick up earlier infections and is more likely to identify animals with TB that the skin test would miss. We use these tests in combination where there is an outbreak, to try to ensure we get as many of the infected animals as possible.

Fortunately for me, we had a great team and I didn’t have to do too much of the testing. It’s a very physical job, either lifting the cow’s tail and taking blood from a vein that runs down the centre, or getting down on your knees and taking it from the neck. I did a lot of blood testing in the early years of my career because brucellosis testing was still routinely done in cattle, every three years. It seems it’s like riding a bike, because I can still do it, which is just as well because I was asked to step in a couple of times on animals where it was difficult to get blood. The relief when I managed was significant. As my main role was in supervising a new animal health officer who was learning, it wouldn’t look good if I couldn’t do it myself.

The bird flu outbreak is going on and on, though really February is possibly the worst month for it, so it’s not unexpected. I was duty vet yesterday and another two investigations came in. One of them sounded like a certainty, so it looks like our little team will continue to be busy in the coming weeks. I have learned a lot from my involvement last week, not least because I made some errors in case handling and didn’t collect anything like enough evidence for the tracings team. I had to go back and get additional information about exactly where manure had been spread from the farm, when feed had been delivered to each shed, where they got their bedding materials and when and to where had any carcasses been taken away, before the outbreak set in. On a big farm, there are a lot of comings and goings over twenty one days. I did gather the information, but I should have returned the day after I walked round the shed to look at the birds to ask a whole load more questions and to get copies of the paperwork showing all those interactions. Next time, I will have much better oversight. This is how I learn best. As well as being a huge farm, it was only my fourth ever investigation and my first to go positive, and so the steep learning curve goes on.

I had a lovely weekend with Valerie. As well as the hot tub, she introduced me to the addictive TV experience that is Traitors. We binge watched it and it was fascinating to see the damage done in a society when some are enabled and willing to lie and deceive and others (acting innocently) cause havoc and failure through their over-confidence in their skills and beliefs. Others yet, with unseen wisdom and less self-confidence, are ignored. I realise what we see is heavily edited to give a certain slant to things, but seeing the interplay when we know more of the truth than the contestants is very interesting indeed.

Anyway, I shall leave you with my one, single, scenic photo from Ayrshire. Scotland is very beautiful, even in the middle of a sullen, damp winter. Thank you for reading. I hope you have a good week.