Industry Statement – Animal Health

Scottish Government officials met with livestock industry stakeholders to discuss developments in a range of animal health and welfare policy areas including: priorities for future work by the Farm Animal Welfare Council;, Research Funding; the national (GB) foot and mouth disease exercise (Exercise Silver Birch); formation of an Expert Forum to take forward a partnership approach to the management of animal health in Scotland; and the Bovine Viral diarrhoea (BVD) consultation due to end on 16 June 2010.

Scottish Government outlined the proposed future direction of Bovine Tuberculosis (bTB) surveillance and control in Scotland. Scottish Government informed the group that research has been commissioned at Glasgow University to develop options for a risk based approach to bTB surveillance that will deliver long term improvements across Scotland. Glasgow University is due to report in Spring 2011. Industry was presented with seven options to consider for the shorter term and will respond within the week.

Those options concern:
• Contiguous testing around outbreaks;
• Voluntary slaughter of inconclusive Reactors (IR);
• Testing after resuming officially tuberculosis free herd status;
• New herd tests;
• Unconfirmed breakdowns;
• Herds sustained by Irish imports;
• Reactors from the Irish Republic