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There seems to be a lot of confusion about the scrapie eradication program in Oklahoma. I hope to clear some of these issues in clear simple English.
There are two programs in Oklahoma.
The Scrapie Eradication Program is the simplest and is mandatory to the transportation of and tracking of rams and ewes.
The tags and applicator are free from the Department of Agriculture. Any ram or ewe that is sold must be tagged and the seller must record the location and name of the sale (AGB Club Lamb Sale, Madill OK) or sale barn (Bug Tussle livestock auction) and/or the person that the ram of ewe is sold to.
When you receive you free tags you will be assigned a premises identification number. This will allow for an infected ram or ewe to be tracked back to your farm.
To receive your application for the free tags call 405-427-9413.
I have been told that some states are requiring the tagging of wethers as well. As a club lamb breeder you might consider tagging all lambs because you do not know where your lambs will be shown.
The second program is the Scrapie Certification Program. This program is pretty involved and takes 5 years to complete.
These tags and the applicator are not free and must be ordered through the Department of Agriculture. To receive a tag request form call 405-522-6131. The cost is .90 for the junior flap tag or .75 for the mini round tags. The tagger is $23.50. They can only be ordered through the USDA-APHIS-VS.
You must order the tags and tag each of your ewes and rams. Then the United States Department of Agriculture-Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service-Veterinary Service (USDA-APHIS-VS) will send out a vet to verify that your flock is tagged and to check and see if you have proper record keeping. Your records should trace pedigree, lamb sales, and ewe and ram sales. This can be done on paper or with a computer program.
Dr. Nancy Roberts has been very helpful with me as I have asked lots of questions. She is willing to visit with you about your program and getting started with either scrapie program. Her number is 405-427-9413.
Commonly asked questions.
What will happen to my flock if one of my lambs that I sell has scrapies and is tracked back to me?
This is where your record keeping is of the utmost importance. The Department of Agriculture may purchase the ewe. I was told that they would pay up to $450.00 if you could show that you purchased the ewe at a premium or if your records show that you sell, say $500.00 worth of lambs out of her each year.
The Department of Agriculture will then assist you in setting up a flock plan to clean up your premises and breeding stock.
When I sell club lambs sometime a lamb jock may buy them and move them in with several hundred lambs from all across the U.S. What happens if one of my lambs comes down with scrapies that I sold to and had no control of where my lamb went?
Hang on and put your thinking cap on for this one. Lambs contract scrapies at birth (from the amnionic fluid(just repeating what I was told))and the disease manifest itself in the ewe at about 2-5 years of age. If they contract the disease later on in life then the disease manifest itself at about 6-9 years of age. This is where your records will show when the ewe was born and to whom you sold it. If the diseased ewe is 8 years old and you sold her when she was 4 months then she did not contract the disease on your premises.
Is there any way to test and see if my flock has scrapies?
No, there is no live test for this little critter. The test has to be done on a dead sheep and the brain is tested or the third eyelid of the sheep is checked for those little critters.
I thought that OSU could test for scrapies?
My understanding is that they test for a genetic resistance to scrapies.
What is Scrapies?
This seems to be the big $64,000 question. There are lots of big words to identify this little critter and you could probably fit 500,000,000 of them on its official name (Transmissable Spongiform Encephalopathy).
Basically they call it scrapies because the rams and ewes scrape (thus the name; Scrapie) rub, chew their skin because they itch. It seems that in the latter stages of the disease the little scrapie critter eats holes in the brain and makes it look like a sponge(thus the name; Transmissable Spongiform Encephalopathy). This causes the ram or ewe to itch beyond belief and they cannot get rid of the itching sensation. Then they die or when you take them to your vet he will call the Department of Agriculture and they will purchase your ewe and do the test on their brain for the scrapie critter.
How is Scrapie passed from one ewe to another?
Well I do not know that any body really knows. It seems that a ewe may eat the afterbirth from an infected ewe and become infected. That seems to be about it. This tells me that if I clean my lambing jugs after each lambing and dispose of afterbirth appropriately this will cut down on my incidence of scrapies.
Is Scrapie a bacteria or a virus?
Well I thought that it had to be one of these but I was mistaken. It is a prion.
What is a prion?
It is a protein that resembles a normal body protein but is different enough to be ugly to the body and yet similar enough that it does not trigger the immune system.
Is Scrapie passed from rams to ewes when breeding? No. It is not found in semen so it continues to be safe to AI your ewes to rams from other flocks. Rams seem to have a more natural resistance to the scrapie critter.
Other Facts:
Scrapie has been diagnosed in over 950 flocks in the U.S. and only two flocks in Oklahoma that has been infected.
Goats seem to be more resistance that sheep.
Black face sheep seem to be the least resistance.