As one Defra agency appears to be finally learning the painful lessons of IT rollouts gone wrong, another seems to have walked into the same trap. No room for complacency on bluetongue
THERE is no room for complacency in the mission to keep British livestock free from the bluetongue disease, farmers have been warned.
The disease is still at large in Europe and could easily spread to Britain the industry campaign body JAB has said.
JAB said vigilance was the key to keeping British livestock free from the disease in 2010 and reminded to farmers to vaccinate their animals against the disease.
In a joint statement JAB said: “We are proud of our success so far in keeping this disease at bay.
“We are hopeful, that with continued vaccination and vigilance, we can keep bluetongue out of the country however there is no room for complacency, now is the time to ensure cattle and sheep are protected as an outbreak of bluetongue can have a potentially devastating impact on the economic viability of a livestock farm.
“However the disease is still prevalent in Europe with more than 700 cases reported last year. Anyone importing animals needs to double check the health and vaccination status of their livestock to ensure we keep the disease out.
“We can not afford to rest on our laurels; vigilance and continued vaccination is key.”
A second year free from bluetongue outbreaks would enable the UK to be declared disease-free.
There was positive news for sheep farmers after new research from the Institute for Animal Health revealed lambs born to ewes that have been vaccinated twice against bluetongue (BT) virus type 8 are protected against the disease for at least 14 weeks – the age at which many lambs go for slaughter.
