What has been done?
Initial testing for the bought in nucleus flock ewes at Graianfryn is complete. All Border Disease tests were negative. For Maedi Visna (MV), a very low number of positives were found: one out of 45 yearlings and one out of 41 two-year-olds. After consulting with
Dr. Peers Davies from Liverpool University and the farm vet, due to the very low incidence of disease it is believed these are likely false positives and a decision has been made to re-test the two positive animals to be sure.
What next?
If they are negative, the flock is considered MV-free. If either is confirmed positive, a simple 'test-and-cull' plan will be initiated.
To implement this, the farm would need to re-test all of the 151 bought in sheep in six months to identify any animals that were incubating the infection.
All ewes will be managed and run separately from the current main flock to maintain their disease-free status.
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