This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Pregnant women warned over sheep disease
07/01/2002
Pregnant women should avoid close contact with sheep during
lambing periods, the Scottish Executive advised today.
Pregnant women who come into close contact with sheep during
lambing may risk their own health and that of their unborn
child, from infections which can occur in some ewes. These
include chlamydiosis (enzootic abortion of ewes - EAE),
toxoplasmosis and listeriosis, which are common causes of
abortion in ewes.
Although the number of reports of these infections and human
miscarriages resulting from contact with sheep is extremely
small, it is important that pregnant women are aware of the
potential risks.
To avoid the possible risk of infection, pregnant women are
advised that they should:
- not help to lamb or milk ewes;
- avoid contact with aborted or new-born lambs or with the
afterbirth; and
- wherever possible avoid handling clothing, boots etc which
have come into contact with ewes or lambs, or if they must,
wear rubber gloves.
Pregnant women should seek medical advice if they experience
fever or influenza-like symptoms and are concerned that they
could have acquired infection from a farm environment.
Farmers have a responsibility to minimise the risks to
pregnant women, including members of their family, the public
and professional staff visiting farms. Any action should be
determined by their risk assessment required under Health and
Safety legislation.
If a ewe aborts, farmers are advised to ask their veterinary
surgeon to take a sample to their local Veterinary
Investigation Centre to determine the cause. In the interests
of hygiene, farmers should dispose of all afterbirths promptly
and safely and, where possible, by burial or burning.
Farmers should consult their veterinary surgeon about
suitable vaccination programmes and any other disease control
measures in sheep.
The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH)
Regulations 1999 require employers to assess risks to
health from harmful substances, including micro-organisms, and
to take steps to prevent or control those risks, and
The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations
1992 require employers to further assess any risks which
affect pregnant women.
Further advice is available from Employment Medical Advisory
Service offices, which are listed under the Health and Safety
Executive in the telephone directory.
The Department of Health advisory leaflet,
While you are pregnant: How to avoid infection from food
and from contact with animals, is available, free of
charge to general medical practitioners and midwives from:
The Scottish Executive Health Department, Public Health
Division, Branch 1, 3E(S), St Andrews House, Edinburgh, EH1
3DG.
Further information is also available in the 1997
publication
Infection risks to new and expectant mothers in the
workplace - a guide for employers, by the Advisory Committee on Dangerous
Pathogens (ref: ISBN 0-7176-1360-7). Copies are available,
price £10.50, from HSE Books, PO Box 1999, Sudbury, Suffolk,
CO10 6FS.