Alpaca herd hit by TB
HEARTBROKEN alpaca owner Dianne Summers is warning others in the South West to be on their guard, after four of her herd had to be put down because they were suffering from bovine tuberculosis.
With several hundred herds in the region, she is concerned that her fellow owners are unaware of the problem.
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Diane Summers from Busveal, near Redruth in Cornwall, has lost four of her male alpacas to bovine TB
The Exeter-based British Alpaca Society (BAS), too, is so worried that it called a special meeting of alpaca owners who have been affected to share information and experiences.
And farmers in the Westcountry have concerns about yet another species with the disease – and say the situation only serves to highlight the need for positive action to be taken to control TB-diseased wildlife, notably badgers.
The two males that Miss Summers, from Busveal, near Redruth, has just lost means she has had to have four destroyed in the past nine months because of TB. But, she explained, in her capacity as welfare officer of the Cornwall Alpaca and Llama Group she knows of another owner who has lost nine animals, one after the other. In total, she said, there had been eight alpaca herds affected so far in the South West this year, losing about 160 animals.
Miss Summers' herd is now down to 14 – and she does not know how her casualties contracted the disease. Breeding females cost around £6,500 each and gelded males £750. She keeps them for their fleeces, which she hand-spins. But her alpacas were not insured, because premiums were about £400 a year per animal, she said.
Libby Henson, the registrar of the BAS, said a meeting was held in Bristol at the weekend to exchange ideas and form a help group. She explained: "Alpacas are not classified as an agricultural species, so there is no statutory movement recording, nor the routine testing that happens with cattle. But we are encouraging our 1,000 members to keep their own records." Most of the TB problems had so far been restricted to hot spot areas of the South West, with 10 farmers affected.
She said, that, unlike cattle which could carry the disease for some time without showing symptoms, the disease was capable of killing alpacas very quickly.
"We are giving advice to members – like ensuring their water troughs are inaccessible to badgers. Each alpaca TB case has been picked up locally and has been linked to the local wildlife," she added.
In an attempt to ensure alpaca owners report TB cases, the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is making discretionary compensation payments of up to £750 per animal destroyed.
Julie Edwards, of the National Farmers' Union in the South West, said: "It's yet another demonstration of how important it is to get bovine TB under control."
12 Comments
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by Dianne Summers, Redruth
Wednesday, December 30 2009, 6:06PM
“Since this piece was written I have lost another 4 of my alpacas to TB.
One of my fellow Alpaca owners has lost 33 in the space of just 12 weeks - another 23 in the same period and another has lost 11 in just 4 weeks. A series of TB in alpacas awareness meetings
presented by BVCs vet Gina Bromage and are free to attend are commencing Jan 14th throughout the U.K. Venues include Bodmin- Exeter - Bristol etc contact me for further details.
summersdianne@yahoo.com”
by Chris, Stratford
Thursday, December 17 2009, 8:40PM
“It is essential that all alpaca owners act responsibly an TB test their animals, keep movement records and take biosecurity control measures, including measures to reduce or prevent contact with badgers. The industry has to wake up to this issue and take responsible measures to deal with it. So well done, Dianne, in raisning the profile of this issue, we need others to respond to your message in a constructive manner to the benefit of alpacas.”
by Dianne, Cornwall
Wednesday, July 22 2009, 7:31PM
“Thanks for your comment and yes we as alpaca owners need to come together and be responsible but I am being vilified for speaking out and sadly it is by the alpaca communtiy.
It saddens me a great deal.
The handful of alpaca owners supporting me keeps me positve whilst going through this nightmare.
The rest of you who send me threats and vile emails just because I have said i have lost 4 alpacas to Tb should be ashamed of yourselves. Think of the animals not your pocket and those you put at risk when you refuse to test . AH do not ask to test for no reason.
Direct contacts and tracings are indeed refusing to test and carrying on putting other alpaca owners animals at risk.-It is you who should be vilified not me.
No doubt this will start another rally of abuse from the camelid community.”
by Linda Richardson, Warwickshire
Saturday, July 18 2009, 9:51PM
“What a tragedy. Even though DEFRA do not recognise Alpacas as livestock perhaps we Alpaca owners should take the initiative and have our herds tested for TB. I think we owe it to these beautiful animals to protect them as best we can.”
by Finola Shanahan, Falmouth
Friday, July 17 2009, 1:14AM
“I draw diannes alpaca logos and it frustrates me that people do not take this matter seriously enough, i'm sure there is a way to solve this if only more people invested money into making a TB vacine for alpacas or something...
I am a friend of Dianne and i do not to see her upset and frustrated by this bullshit since alpacas are such beautiful animals to draw”
by Lulu, Redruth
Wednesday, July 15 2009, 9:37PM
“Who has blamed a native animal in this article!? The only blame I recall reading is that of the previous commentator and that disgusts me! My heart goes out to Diane - and her and any other animals affected by TB - the answer is not in apportioning blame but finding a humane thorough and adequate solution and outcome re this problem not by causing, unjustly, more.”
by Richard Vickery, Loxbeare
Monday, July 06 2009, 9:47PM
“I think that we must all remember that as keepers of livestock, be they cattle or camelid, we have a duty of care both toward our own animals and those of others with whom they may come into contact.
So this is a 'One and All' responsibility, to do our very utmost to prevent the further spread of this dreadful diease and no 'rogue traders'.”
by Charles Henry 1945-(diuturnity), Somersetshire
Sunday, July 05 2009, 9:40AM
“:| Think of Camelid owners as allies not adversaries Lesley. . It appears their stock may be even more vulnerable to infection from badgers than either cattle or deer. . They certainly seem to succumb to the infection far quicker and far more severely than cattle. . And they have no entitlement to compensation remember. . Small herds can be decimated(hence the discretionary claims.) . Owners of all wildlife parks and Zoos will now be getting increasingly concerned and will now also be demanding a proper course of action is taken.”
by Lesley Prior, Devon
Sunday, July 05 2009, 5:25AM
“Why are Camelid owners getting discretionary payments for reporting TB when it is a legal requirement for any vet doing a TB test (whether the result is positive or negative) to report it to the DVM? Other non cattle species do not get special treatment like this. It's time Alpacas etc were brought into the real world of farming with full movement controls etc. Then the rest of the farming community could rest easy when we see them walking around our country lanes on collars and leads "talking" over farm gates to cattle and sheep. It doesn't matter whether they are a food species or not - this is a matter of animal health.”
by Vincent Smith, Pendeen
Friday, July 03 2009, 1:05PM
“Yet again badgers get the blame.Where's the proof? The best way of stopping Alpacas getting TB is keeping them in there own country.Blaming a native mammal for spreading a disease to one that has only been introduced to this country to be exploted is disgusting.”