Since we sent out our newsletter describing the current situation regarding Bluetongue there have been significant developments in government policy. At a recent Animal Health meeting in Peebles, the new Chief Veterinary Officer for Scotland (CVO(S)), Simon Hall, outlined several changes to the vaccination strategy in Scotland which are to be announced in the next few days.  (12/09/09)

• Compulsory vaccination of all classes of stock will cease from 25th October 2009. It remains a legal requirement that all calves and lambs that will be 6 months old before this date (ie born before the 26th April 2009) must receive a full primary vaccination course. It will not be a legal requirement to vaccinate calves and lambs born after 26th April. 
• The decision to end the compulsory vaccination campaign is based on a risk assessment of the current disease situation, particularly the lack of cases in the UK so far this summer. However, the government is reserving the right to re-instate the compulsory campaign if there is a significant change in the disease situation before the end of December. Outbreaks of Bluetongue are most common in late summer and can develop until the 'vector-free' period starts in November. Therefore, if cases of Bluetongue are reported in England in the next few months it is possible that the Scottish government will announce as late as the end of December that all stock will be required to be fully up-to date with their vaccinations before the end of April. 
• While vaccination will no longer be a legal requirement after the 25th October the Scottish government and this practice are still strongly recommending voluntary vaccination, particularly of breeding stock. While the relaxation of policy reflects theoretical reduced risk of a disease outbreak, if an outbreak does occur it will be just as devastating to unvaccinated stock. While it may be appropriate not to vaccinate some classes of animals, eg. late finishing fat lambs, vaccination remains the only effective way of protecting your breeding stock from bluetongue. 
• If stock are vaccinated voluntarily before December, (eg. if ewes are vaccinated pre-tupping to minimise handling during pregnancy), this is acceptable even if compulsory vaccination is re-introduced. However, one interesting scenario is that if cattle received their primary course before December last year and this was allowed to overrun (ie did not receive a booster within 12months) and the Scottish government did announce compulsory vaccination this year then in theory these cattle would have to re-start a primary course before April. 
• Unfortunately the Scottish government has also announced that it will be longer be subsidising the Merial BTV8 vaccine with immediate effect.

 We realise these changes have significant implications for your farms regarding the decision to vaccinate stock this winter and sympathise with you for the apparent sudden change in government policy. We still believe vaccination is vital to protect livestock in vaccination from Bluetongue and if you would like to discuss vaccination of your stock this winter then please contact your usual vet.

TB free Scotland?!

Also discussed at the meeting with the CVO(S) is the recent announcement that Scotland is now officially recognised by the EU as being free of bovine tuberculosis(TB).This is a reflection of the hard work by all parties involved in the TB campaign over recent years and is a remarkable achievement given the situation in the rest of the UK. While the announcement means an end to the EU requirement for Scotland to undertake routine TB testing in reality very little will change in the short term. Scotland has agreed to voluntarily continue routine and pre-export TB testing for a period of 6 years to maintain disease surveillance. However, it is hoped that in the future tighter import biosecurity and targeted testing of suspect herds will mean an end to the traditional routine TB test!

 
(PM)