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BCVA president David Black expressed concern at the sector’s ability to handle incursions of other diseases such as foot-and-mouth if it cannot manage the ongoing bluetongue outbreak.
Chris Simpson
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The ongoing bluetongue outbreak should be a “wake-up call” for the veterinary sector, senior farm vets have warned.
A panel of clinicians and stakeholders gave an update on the outbreak at BCVA Congress today (Thursday 15 October), with 3,389 confirmed BTV-3 cases in the UK and a further 468 potential cases under investigation.
BCVA president David Black said: “At BCVA, we are very concerned, and we think that this situation we’ve had with bluetongue should be a real wake-up call for us.
“Bluetongue is now an endemic disease, effectively, so if we can’t cope with a surge of an endemic disease, we have got absolutely no chance if we have a foot-and-mouth incursion, for example, and it’s not going to be if; it’s going to be when.
“We have to build those relationships back with state vets… we have to build capacity.”
Beef farmer Mark Jelley called for “clear messaging to farmers” around outcomes if they don’t vaccinate and how to proceed with vaccination if other serotypes, such as BTV-8, enter the country.
He continued: “There needs to be a recognition that there’s going to be an impact in the spring, but there also needs to be a recognition that the farmers ultimately are responsible for their own decisions, and if you’ve done everything you can as a vet to convince them to vaccinate and they choose not to, that is their decision. It is not your failure.”
BCVA board director Laura Roberts also urged vets be “proactive” ahead of next spring, adding: “Try and get ahead this winter while things are a little bit quieter on the case front.”
Sheep Veterinary Society past-president Phillipa Page backed Mr Jelley’s call for continued messaging.
She said: “There’s overwhelming evidence that our clients, see us – as their private vets – as their trusted source of information, so think about the messaging that you’re putting out. Keep putting it out.”
Jennifer Morgan, head of communications at the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board, acknowledged the difficulty of getting such messaging right.
“There is a fine line about conveying the terrible reality of this… and then at the same time trying not to cause worry,” she said. “It’s really tough.”
CVO for Scotland Sheila Voas concluded the session. She said: “We have the tools. Let’s use them. If there isn’t a really good reason not to, we should be vaccinating.”