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We must realise all of us who care for animals in Europe that only two groups of people are really responsible for the detection of these exotic diseases. These are the farmers who have day-to-day care and the veterinarians who advise and train them as well as act as their advisers.
It is essential that we retain our expertise through retraining by familiarisation with the diseases such as FMD and Classical and African Swine Fever, and even Aujeszky’s, and SVD, for in order to detect them we have to know about them.
We have to know about their recent world-wide upsurges, about the patterns of trade that may bring them to us via new importations of raw foods, particularly through ethnic preparations. As these viruses spread and possibly change their nature we must all be aware of the difficulties that may now be posed in their diagnosis, as host specificity changes.
The UK 2001 outbreak showed us how difficult it was to detect FMD in sheep. Rarely did they have foot lesions, mouth lesions and pyrexia simultaneously unless they had picked up the infection from cattle. Then they often had all three but when infection was from other sheep there were minimal signs. In all species the best recovery of FMD virus was associated with lesions of the dental pad. Lesions of gums and tongue can be associated with so many other soil based or traumatic situations, and in many instances the cause of these was not recognised. Who regularly looks in the mouths of healthy sheep?
To even attempt the clinical diagnosis of exotic diseases we need to maintain our expertise in every day diseases of farmed livestock. In order to achieve this we have to examine groups of farm livestock: normal, sub-clinically and clinically affected regularly. This needs to be appreciated and needs to be incorporated into the day-to-day assessment of farm animal health and welfare through assurance schemes. Only then by offering a service to the farmer and by providing an assurance service to the public will we be able to educate ourselves and maintain our clinical expertise.
