Bluetongue vaccination finally on its way

SCOTLAND'S livestock farmers can breathe a sigh of relief. The Scottish Government has announced a bluetongue vaccination programme, placed an order for 12 million doses and pledged £3 million towards first-year costs.

Richard Lochhead, Cabinet secretary for rural affairs, yesterday said the Scottish Government would meet half of farmers' costs for the vaccine this year, up to the £3m ceiling. The compulsory vaccination programme is set to start in early winter, "subject to disease developments". Holyrood will also fund the cost of monitoring against non-compliance.

Vaccination will be necessary for at least a further two years, and while there will be no direct funding for this, it is believed that the Scottish Government will consider using the new Scottish Rural Development Programme, which aims to deliver benefits totalling £1.6 billion to the countryside between now and 2013.

Jim McLaren, president of NFU Scotland, was clearly satisfied with yesterday's announcement.

He said: "I realise that farmers have been growing increasingly anxious over bluetongue, but taking an extra couple of weeks to come up with the right package has been worth the wait.

"I appeal to all farmers and crofters to give this programme their full support: the future of their businesses may depend on doing just that."

Lochhead said: "Scotland is free from bluetongue and we want to keep it this way. This is the right solution. We have balanced the significant potential costs of the disease with the cost of effective controls."

Failure to comply could result in a fine of up to £5,000, and six months imprisonment as the ultimate penalty.

Brian Simpson, development executive at the Scottish Beef Cattle Association, said: "The fact that vaccine is on its way will be of great comfort to farmers. No-one is expecting that we will have to use it this summer, but it will be there if needed.

"The fact that we are to have compulsory vaccination is also a huge plus. We will not have the uncertainty they have south of the Border, where voluntary vaccination is in place, farmers not knowing for definite who is vaccinating and who is not. Our strategy is an important step forward for the whole of the Scottish livestock sector."

The livestock industry has been plagued with a succession of major disease problems ever since 1996 when it was suggested that there was a probable link between BSE in cattle and variant CJD in the human population.

For farmers, BSE resulted in a colossal loss in income and the banning of all cattle aged over 30 months from the human food chain – a ban that lasted until May 2006.

Then in March 2001 the UK was hit by the world's worst epidemic of foot-and-mouth disease, which cost the Treasury in the region of £8bn through compensation and associated charges.

Last August FMD resurfaced in Surrey, though there were only a handful of cases – compared with the 2,030 confirmed in 2001. This small outbreak was successfully contained, but again at considerable cost to farmers as the result of movement restrictions and loss of markets.

Just as the industry was beginning to recover, bluetongue appeared in East Anglia, again at considerable cost to farmers. To date there have been no cases of bluetongue in Scotland, but the industry is decidedly nervous. Losses on mainland Europe have been considerable.

Charles Milne, Scotland's chief vet, explained the nature of the disease. He said: "Bluetongue is caused by a virus which affects ruminants – cattle, sheep and goats – but there are no human health implications. The virus is primarily transmitted by some species of midge, which acts as a disease vector.

"Clinical disease is observed in sheep and, unusually, in cattle. The disease may be severe and can result in mortality of 30 per cent in sheep and up to 10 per cent in cattle. In addition, those animals that recover also experience ongoing problems associated with fertility."