how to prepare for their arrival in Finistère?

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» Around August 15, I started by seeing two cows limping “. Milk producer in the Drôme with his wife Audrey, Thierry Gillos is surprised: his herd, composed only of Jersey cowsis not prone to lameness. » These were the first symptoms of FCO. Others quickly followed: two heifers that bloated for no reason… “. One of his neighbors, a sheep farmer, having already been affected by the disease, it did not take him long to understand. And a blood test, around August 20, confirmed the diagnosis.

80% of livestock affected

“There were no warning signs,” recalls the breeder. ” And 80% of the livestock have been affected “. Due to a virus, the disease cannot be cured. “I just gave the animals anti-inflammatories to alleviate the pain.” In one month, he recorded the loss of six heifers less than a year old and a bull calf, the birth of three stillborn calvesa strong drop in milk, of the order of 4 to 5 kg per cow, and a rise in cells. And the situation takes time to return to normal. » We went up to 500,000 cells in the tank. And we are, still today, between 300 and 400,000. Milk took a month and a half to two months to start rising again. But some neighbors were even more affected. “Some cows did not get up after calving.”

Vaccinate to try to be less affected

In this drying area, where cows graze from 1^is February to 1^is July then from September 15 to November 15 and go out onto parking lots between the two, the breeder confined them in a building from August 15, to try to escape the pressure of culicoid midges, disease vectors. “I don't know if that changed anything…”.

Traumatized by the impact of the disease on his animals, he now administers a vitamin cure and selenium once a week, chloride once a month. And while in his time, he refused to be vaccinated against Covid, he is preparing to vaccines his animals next March. “I don't at all want to relive a summer like the one we just had: I suffered too much seeing my animals like that.”

Better compensate losses

» The FCO and the MHE are managed by the sectors. And alone excess mortality is compensated,” explains Antoine Girona, dairy farmer in Tréglonou and responsible for FCO and MHE files at the Confédération paysanne du Finistère. » In the case of direct sales, the losses are enormous. And some farms are not recovering.”

Among the union's demands is therefore better compensation for losses, including gross margin. » It would also be necessary that all vaccines are reimbursed, which is not the case today,” adds Julien Tallec, co-spokesperson for the Conf’.

Animals in shape

While MHE and FCO are at the gates of Finistère, breeders are wondering what they can do. “Not much in the way of curative,” confirms Hubert Hiron, veterinarian in Dordogne, who advises focusing on prevention. “Immunity is built up and maintained: to resist disease, animals must be in their best shape.”

Parasitic currents, antennas, different sources of stress... : everything must be reviewed and optimized. “We must also pay attention to zinc and selenium, and check that their assimilation is not disrupted, by an excess of iron, for example.” The speed of transit also comes into play, by providing hay in a grazing system to avoid too soft manure. And the diet must be balanced as accurately as possible, particularly for MHE, also known as “sugar disease”.

» Flax seeds, at a rate of 80 to 100 g per day per cow, have also proven effective against tick and midge bites,” adds the veterinarian.

Vaccinate? “It’s never trivial,” warns Hubert Hiron. “And the best immunity is provided by the disease itself.” It is up to each breeder to think at the level of their own herd, based on the risks, the health of the animals… “Once the disease is in the herd, aromatherapy and homeotherapy can also provide solutions.”

The arrival of the FCO and the MHE being imminent in Brittany, “it will then be necessary learn to live with “, indicates the veterinarian. » After years of heavy infestation, it will circulate quietly, most animals being immune. And will resurface when they have been culled or when humidity conditions are more favorable to the spread of midges.”

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