You are here:

Advice to pregnant women during the lambing season

 

NEWS RELEASE

Ref: 03/08
Date: 9 January 2008

The Department of Health, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and the Health and Safety Executive advise that pregnant women should avoid close contact with sheep during the lambing season.

Pregnant women who come into close contact with sheep during lambing may risk their own health and that of their unborn child, from infections that can occur in some ewes.  These include chlamydiosis (enzootic abortion of ewes - EAE), toxoplasmosis and listeriosis, which are common causes of abortion in ewes, and Q fever, which may occasionally cause ewes to abort but which can also be spread via the birth fluids of animals (not just sheep) that have no clinical signs of disease.

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 associated with close contact with sheep during lambing.

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, birthing fluids or materials (e.g. bedding) contaminated by such birth products ;
  • avoid handling clothing, boots etc which have come into contact with ewes or lambs

Pregnant women should seek medical advice if they experience fever or influenza-like symptoms, or if 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 the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) Regulations 2002 and also the Management of Health and Safety of Work Regulations 1999. 

If a ewe aborts, farmers are advised to consult their veterinary surgeon and arrange for samples to be examined at their local Regional Laboratory of the Veterinary Laboratories Agency to determine the cause.  In the interests of hygiene, farmers should dispose of all afterbirths promptly and safely in accordance with relevant legislation. The Animal By-Products Regulations 2005 requires animal by-products, including afterbirth material, to be disposed of via an approved route such as rendering, incineration, knackers yards etc.

Notes to editors

  1. Farmers should consult their veterinary surgeon about suitable vaccination programmes and any other disease control measures in sheep.
  2. The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) Regulations 2002 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 1999 require employers to further assess any risks which affect pregnant women.
  3. Further advice is available from HSE Infoline on 0845 3450055.  They may put you through to an HSE Occupational Health Professional in your region if necessary.
  4. 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: Department of Health, Prolog, Unit 8, Sherwood Park, Annesley, Nottingham NG15 ODJ
  5. Further information is also available from an HSE Information sheet Common Zoonoses in Agriculture and is available on their website at www.HSE.gov.uk/pubns/ais2.pdf. Also, 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 2WA, or by calling 01787 881165, or via their website at www.hsebooks.co.uk
  6. HPA website has further information on Q fever – www.hpa.org.uk/infections/topics_az/zoonoses/q_fever/lambing.htm

End

Nobel House, 17 Smith Square, London SW1P 3JR
Out of hours telephone 020 7270 8960

Public enquiries: 08459 335577
News releases available on our website:
www.defra.gov.uk
Defra's aim is sustainable development

Page published: 9 January 2008