The arrival of new animal diseases into this country was used last night by the president of the British Veterinary Association, Carl Padgett, to stress “the vital importance of a robust veterinary surveillance system, and the value of collaboration at the highest level internationally”.
Speaking in Edinburgh, he cited Schmallenberg Virus and bleeding calf syndrome as reminders of the type of problem that could occur at any time unless there was a robust surveillance system across Europe.
He said: “While we hope that Schmallenberg won’t travel so far north as to reach Scotland, we must remember there is still much we don’t understand about this infection and farmers must remain vigilant and ensure vets are brought onto the farm at the first sign of anything suspicious.”
And despite the removal from the market of a vaccine which was thought to trigger bleeding calf syndrome, he said this disease was now a pan-European problem.
“Bleeding calf syndrome was first brought to national attention by veterinary surgeons working with farming clients and local surveillance centres. It is essential that this link between practitioners and diagnostics is not lost as policy work on the future of surveillance in Scotland is developed.”
He referred to a report by former NFU Scotland president John Kinnaird, which recognised the high quality of service provided by the SAC Disease Surveillance Centres.
But that report had raised many questions which, seven months later, remained unanswered. He said: “We look forward to engaging with the board as it consults with industry and the profession, and will be looking for tangible results soon.”
Exotic diseases created what he called an unwelcome distraction from the core work of the veterinary profession, which was battling endemic disease. These were battles that could only be fought successfully by utilising the combined troops of industry, government and the veterinary profession.
In this regard, he referred to the current Bovine Viral Diarrhoea eradication plan, with the staged approach taken by Scottish Government.
During the next stage of the programme, which would introduce a movement ban on persistently infected cattle, all stakeholders had to engage with the consultation to ensure the plan went through.
On the issue of antimicrobial resistance – now a significant global problem facing human and animal medicine practitioners – Padgett said the answer lay in using antibiotics responsibly, or risk losing them altogether.
And finally, although he admitted it was not a big issue in Scotland, Padgett stressed the BVA’s objection to the large numbers of livestock now being killed without pre- stunning.
“Slaughter without stunning unnecessarily compromises animal welfare,” he said.
EU and UK law requires animals to be stunned before slaughter, but there are exemptions for slaughter by a religious method. Padgett said there was a need to move away from the religious arguments and concentrate on the right of consumers to make higher welfare choices with the food they bought.