The slow sheep and goat killer: Small ruminant lentiviruses in Swedish herds

Small Ruminant Lentivirus (SRLV) causes severe economic losses and impairs animal welfare in sheep and goat herds across the world. In Sweden, there is a voluntary control program, but less than 50% of the sheep and about 10% of the goats are enrolled in the program. The aim of this project is to increase the knowledge on occurrence and epidemiology of SRLV in Swedish sheep and goat herds and to understand its impact on welfare and sustainable production. Moreover, to develop a cost-effective SRLV control program with high affiliation. We will visit 250 sheep herds and 50 goat herds and up to 60 animals per herd will be clinically examined and sampled. Serum, individual milk, and bulk tank milk samples will be analysed for antibodies to SRLV, and results will be correlated to clinical signs, production parameters and results from a questionnaire. We will compare and evaluate the use of individual, pooled and bulk tank milk samples for disease diagnosis as basis to develop a cost-efficient control program. Farmer´s willingness to enrol to the control program will also be explored. This project brings together multidisciplinary expertise to create knowledge and capacity on sheep and goat health and disease, beneficial for authorities, advisors, and farmers. The long-term goal of this project is total eradication of SRLV in Swedish the Swedish sheep and goat population.

Project members are Jenny Frössling and Ylva Persson (SVA), Karin Alvåsen (SLU) and Emelie Larsdotter (Farm and Animal Health).