The Scrapie Eradication Program

The U.S. has been on a mission "to accelerate the eradication of the fatal brain disease, scrapie, from the nation's sheep flocks and goat herds. Their goal is for the nation to be Scrapie FREE by 2010. The American Sheep Industry Association estimates that scrapie costs the industry over $20 million each year in lost export sales, disposal costs for offal, and lost productivity. " Scrapie is not transmittable to humans, but is closely related to the more serious BSE (Mad Cow), which IS. To receive free information on this program see http://www.animalagriculture.org/scrapie/Scrapie.htm

The proposed National Animal Identification System

In the last two months, the NAIS has been a hot topic on the discussion lists with astounding amounts of misinformation being circulated. For the straight scoop see this USDA site : http://animalid.aphis.usda.gov/nais/index.shtml . It is hoped that this tracking system for the nation's livestock will provide a tool to help protect U.S. breeders from the economic devastation caused by an outbreak of disease like BSE (and other serious disease) and designate U.S. livestock as the safest in the world to buy or eat. At present, they are in the process of assigning premise IDs... and still working with the various breed groups regarding methods of individual IDs . You can get your premise ID online . Each state is a bit different, but it is free in the state of Missouri.

HMFF Commitment to Herd Health

HMFF has been on the Scrapie program for years and all HMFF sheep and goats bear tags that identify their origin. We also keep detailed pedigrees plus health, production and travel records. We have received our NAIS premise ID and are awaiting the final word on how livestock are to be tagged. Plans are in the works to have all our rams tested for genetic resistance this year.(see below for the ASI cost share program). It is important to me that the animals we sell to you are healthy, vaccinated and in compliance with all regulations to the best of my ability.

Scrapie Protection Tips

It is true that scrapie most often occurs in black faced meat breeds, but that is no guarantee that it can not happen in your white faced (or blackfaced) wool breeds. Scrapie irradication is a top priority in the world right now and the U.S. is serious about stamping it out. It is possible to identify sheep that are at the highest risk for scrapie and also to identify those that are scrapie-resistant (although not possible to test goats as yet). The American Sheep Industry has a cost-share ram genotyping program. Breeders in all states are eligible. to get the details on this program see www.sheepusa.org and click on the Ram Genotyping link. A flock of certified resistant sheep would certainly be a sales-plus.

There are also things we can do from a management perspective. Scrapie is not an airborne disease. We know it is spread through direct exposure to birthing fluids and/or the placenta. So with kidding season coming up you may want to consider keeping your sheep and goats separate. I, perhaps like many other breeders, run my sheep and goats together during the winter to simplify my feeding and kidding/lambing chores... but I may have to re-think this policy. Since there is no proof that kidding is the ONLY time scrapie can be transmitted, I may need to keep my sheep and goats completely separate to protect them from each other... and hopefully exempt them from depopulation should the worst scenario occur. This is a tough call perhaps, because of the slim chance of occurance in my fiber oriented farm orientation (rather than meat).

Here at HMFF , I am keeping the sheep and goats separate in order to feed them separate feeds (for example sheep are not supposed to get copper and goats need it)... but at birthing time they come into the same maternity shed. One thing that I have determined to do is to establish one half of the pens for sheep and the other half for the goats... I already clean out and lime each stall between occupants, use clean towels... but how about birthing equipment ? Instead of just washing equipment, I will be adding a disinfectant solution to the routine. And don't forget your hands! Soap and water access plus a disinfectant handwash between cases should be routine. These steps may not save me from a depopulation as far as the USDA is concerned , but they are practical steps that anyone can take to prevent spread of disease.