Scotland shifts to voluntary bluetongue vaccination

The Scottish government will not be repeating this year’s compulsory vaccination programme against bluetongue disease which saw a compliance rate of around 94%.

Instead the country’s chief vet, Simon Hall is encouraging farmers to pursue voluntary vaccination and responsible sourcing of animals particularly during the new transmission season in the spring.

The government believes the Scottish industry is now in a much more favourable position in relation to bluetongue than it was last year.

Responding to the announcement NFU Scotland’s vice-president Nigel Miller said the way the Scottish government and industry had jointly tackled the threat of bluetongue provided a good model for countering such animal disease challenges in the future.

He added: “Careful sourcing of any livestock brought on to a farm is good farming practice. Now that we are moving to a voluntary approach on bluetongue vaccination, livestock farmers will have greater responsibility for managing the risk posed by the disease.”

Mr Miller also urged farmers to continue to abide by the Scottish livestock industry’s voluntary winter and summer codes on importing animals.

He added: “This will help preserve the excellent work done to keep this devastating disease out of Scotland and speed our return to recognised disease-free status.”