Salmonella warning for farmers as the calving season approaches

WITH the calving season approaching, dairy and suckler farmers have been reminded about the dangers of the highly contagious disease, salmonella, to both animal and human health.

Salmonella results in clinical disease in one in seven herds every year. It causes abortions in dairy and suckler herds, usually from the seventh month of pregnancy, as well as diarrhoea in calves, which is regularly fatal.

The two strains of the disease that affect cattle, Salmonella Dublin and Salmonella Typhimurium, can also be contracted by humans leading to serious illness. Families consuming unpasteurised milk are at particular risk of picking up the disease.