The 2020 Animal Health Awareness Week organised by the Department of Agriculture Food and the Marine is taking place this week from 23rd-28th November. On this week’s Beef Edge Podcast, Mícheál Casey, Head of DAFM Regional Veterinary Laboratories (RVL) gives an insight into the many services they provide to farmers.

The RVL network provides animal post-mortem examinations, surveillance of disease and laboratory diagnostic services and expertise to the farming community via veterinary practitioners.

Mícheál highlights that like farmers, the laboratories are busy in the spring with issues arising around the time of calving resulting in post-mortems being done. The RVLs also encounters cases from issues incurred from respiratory diseases in calves resulting from poor ventilation or death as a result of calf scour outbreaks.

In the past few weeks a common finding has been death from lung worm where owners suspect treatments have been ineffective, but in fact the laboratories believe it is the effect of heavy infestations after treatment.

Surveillance of disease is also a major part of the role of RVL as they are on the front line to detect exotic diseases. Mícheál recalls the outbreak of Foot and Mouth in 2001 which farmers will never forget, and which reminds us of the need for ongoing vigilance and early detection.

Tomorrow, Thursday 26th you can tune into the webinar titled ‘Problems and Opportunities - Cattle Health from different perspectives’. You can register here:

https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/82fdd-animal-health-awareness-week-webinar-registration/

Further details on the Animal Health Awareness Week are here:

https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/2e0be-animal-health-awareness-week-programme-of-events/

Find your nearest Regional Veterinary Lab here:

https://www.agriculture.gov.ie/animalhealthwelfare/laboratoryservices/regionalveterinarylaboratories/

For more episodes and information covered on the Beef Edge, visit the show page at:

teagasc.ie/thebeefedge