Press Release - Should Northern Ireland have bluetongue vaccine available for use in 2008

Should Northern Ireland have bluetongue vaccine available for use in 2008?

The National Beef Association would like the Department of Agriculture to ask livestock industry stakeholders to seriously consider the value of having vaccine protection in place against emergent bluetongue this summer when government and industry meet to discuss issues raised by this advancing disease next week. (w/c April 7th)

Vaccination is only permitted in countries where the disease is actively circulating but the NBA fears that infected midges blown in from Great Britain, not imported livestock, pose the biggest bluetongue threat to Northern Ireland’s cattle and sheep over 2008.

And because of this it would like both DARD, and other farmers’ organisations, to examine whether it would be wise to quickly order vaccine as a safeguard that could be immediately used to protect Northern Ireland’s livestock should the disease break out unexpectedly early.

“Current evidence is that bluetongue detected in an imported animal can be extinguished as soon as the carrier is destroyed and the risk of the disease actively circulating is significantly lessened,” explained the NBA’s Northern Ireland secretary, Arthur McKevitt.

“However if it comes on a cloud of midges there is no telling where it will spring up, how widely it has spread, the depth of its circulation or how many farms will fall victim to it.”

“In these circumstances it would be sensible for Northern Ireland to carefully examine whether it should adopt a safety first approach and have vaccine on hand in case it proves necessary to use it – or take a risk on import controls on live animals offering sufficient protection over 2008.”

“It would also be a good idea if the same debate also covered plans on how the vaccine should be used if it was available and the best way to develop a vaccine protection programme for the Province.”

For more information contact:

Arthur McKevitt, NBA Northern Ireland secretary.  Tel.  02830 848254