| 2018-10-31 |    |
NSA Calls for Extreme Caution when Importing Sheep
NSA is calling for farmers to think hard and consider the risks to the UKs disease status if they are thinking about importing sheep from any countries that carry a risk of disease.
This follows the discovery of bluetongue in a consignment of four sheep imported from France.
NSA
Chief Executive Phil Stocker says:
“The import and export
of quality breeding animals is an important part of advancing sheep
genetics and a valuable trade. However, farmers and traders involved
should be aware of the risks, and also aware that they may not
only be putting individual farms at risk but could also threaten
our entire livestock industry. Livestock being imported from
affected areas of Europe, as these four sheep were, must be effectively
vaccinated against bluetongue before they’re sent off farm. In
this situation something has gone wrong, which means potentially
infective sheep were brought into the UK. Fortunately, the Animal
and Plant Health Agency (APHA) controls identified this and
the animals having been destroyed. With no compensation this will
have cost the importer in question serious money let alone the
costs incurred by APHA”.
NSA is strongly advising
farmers, and anyone involved in this type of trade to research
the high-risk diseases associated with different countries before
choosing to import and if it is felt necessary to bring animals
in, consider taking steps beyond statutory controls to give real
assurance. Mr Stocker continues:
“While in this case it is a legal
requirement for stock to have been vaccinated for bluetongue prior
to export this case shows the system cannot be fully relied upon.
The NSA would like to see farmers and traders apply the ‘buyer
beware’ principle and to have the animals tested to make sure they
have developed immunity prior to leaving the farm of origin.”
“We know farmers in several European countries are suffering from ongoing problems with several different strains of BTV, mainly being picked up in routine surveillance, and our sympathy is very much with them. Whilst we recognise that there are valuable bloodlines available in some of these areas, there is no benefit to anyone in spreading this disease and we would expect anyone looking to bring animals into the UK to take every precaution against this.
Animals arriving in the UK should be kept in isolation until APHA has completed tests, but even with this, it would be very hard to isolate them in such a way that midges are unable to get to them and potentially cause a major outbreak here in the UK. The NSA couldn’t be more serious about urging farmers to run full risk assessments and think hard before importing animals from any ‘at risk’ areas. In addition to checking they have had their vaccinations, we would strongly advise demanding a PCR and serology blood test before they leave the departing farm and country”.
NSA has spoken to APHA about this topic and is supporting its efforts to identify what went wrong in this case and to work to prevent similar situations arising in the future.
