Threat of bluetongue leaves no room for complacency

THERE is a growing sense of anxiety on the part of livestock farmers that the Scottish Government is still on the back foot in its approach to bluetongue disease.

This plague of cattle, sheep and goats is spread by midges and has the potential to cause considerable fatalities, especially with sheep.

Bluetongue had never been encountered in Northern Europe until two years ago, but global warming is reckoned to have accelerated its arrival in Germany, France the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Denmark since then.

The first cases in the UK were confirmed in East Anglia last autumn. Since then the disease has been identified in many regions of southern England. Vaccination is seen has the only realistic measure of containing bluetongue, which has the potential to wreak havoc on an even greater scale than the catastrophic epidemic of foot-and-mouth disease during the summer and early autumn of 2001.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has placed orders for a large quantity of vaccine, which is likely to be available in England towards the end of May. However, the Scottish Government stands accused of a degree of indecision. No vaccine has yet been ordered for Scotland.

A brief statement from the Scottish government summed up the current situation.

"We are aware that the bluetongue virus presents an ever increasing threat to Scotland's livestock industry and we must do all we can to keep Scotland free from this disease and the associated restrictions for as long as possible.

"Producers have an individual responsibility in tackling this disease and it is important that, wherever possible, they avoid sourcing stock from high risk areas."

The Scotsman has discovered that there should have been a "stakeholder" meeting yesterday in Edinburgh to discuss the current situation, but it was postponed for at least a week.

A spokesman for NFU Scotland said: "This is a complex issue, but our understanding is that modelling of the possible scenarios is being studied by the UK government's research station at Pirbright in Surrey, the Scottish Agricultural College and the Moredun Institute in Edinburgh, regarding the geographical spread of midges.

"This is a very sophisticated disease and scientists are discovering more almost on a daily basis. We are keen to see some early action to protect the high-health status of Scottish livestock."

Bluetongue has yet to arrive in Scotland, but it was diagnosed in Northern Ireland earlier this year when an importation of in-calf heifers subsequently gave birth to calves which proved to have the disease. The consignment of imported cattle was then slaughtered with no compensation paid to the farmer.

However, Arthur McKevitt, secretary of the National Beef Association in Northern Ireland, is adamant that a vaccination programme must be prepared.

He said: "If bluetongue comes on a cloud of midges there is no telling where it will spring up. In these circumstances it would be sensible for the authorities to carefully examine whether we should adopt a safety-first approach and have vaccine in hand, or to take a risk on import controls offering sufficient controls over 2008."

In the Republic of Ireland there are parallel concerns, especially since that country exports large numbers of live cattle to markets on mainland Europe. One case of bluetongue would put that trade at serious risk. Derek Deane, the deputy president of the Irish Farmers' Association, has raised this issue with Mary Coughlan, the agriculture minister in Dublin.

Deane said: "I made it quite clear to the minister that the live export trade must be protected at all times to maintain important market outlets and price competition: this can only be achieved by maintaining our disease-free status. The import rules into Ireland need to be tightened."

Meanwhile, France appears to be ahead of the game with vets now vaccinating both sheep and cattle with a product supplied by Merial, one the world's largest animal health companies. The initial order was for 200,000 doses, but is expected to be substantially increased over the coming months.