Animal health 2003

Chapter B2 Tuberculosis (TB) in cattle

Historical Overview of TB

Five-Point Strategy

Overview of Work on Bovine TB in 2003

Summary of Bovine TB Statistics for 2003

Randomised Badger Culling Trial

General TB Research

Central Science Laboratory (CSL) Research: Tuberculosis

TB in Animals other than Cattle and Badgers

Wildlife survey in Cumbria

TB Compensation/Valuation

Chapter B3 Rabies Prevention and Control

Quarantine

Pet Travel Scheme (PETS)

EU Regulation

Rabies in bats

Chapter B4 Consumer Protection

UK Zoonoses Group

Zoonoses 59

Residue Surveillance

Horse Passports

Section C Exotic, endemic and new and emerging disease surveillance

Chapter C1 Exotic diseases

Anthrax 68

Aujesky’s disease

Bluetongue

Brucellosis 72

Classical Swine Fever and African Swine Fever

Enzootic Bovine Leukosis

Section E Animal welfare on farm, during transport, at market and at slaughter

Chapter E1 Animal Welfare

On-Farm Inspections

Markets 112

Transport, Markets and Slaughter

Research and Development

Global Participation

Animal Welfare Bill

Farm Animal Welfare Council

The Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966

Section F Appendices

Senior management structure of Animal Health and Welfare Directorate-General 119

The Role of the State Veterinary Service

Senior management structure of the State Veterinary Service

The Role of the Veterinary Laboratories Agency

Veterinary Surveillance Strategy – outline delivery plan

Citizen’s Charter

Statistical tables

Legislation 130

Selected publications

Map showing Veterinary Laboratories Agency and Scottish Agricultural College laboratories

Map showing State Veterinary Service headquarters and Animal Health Divisional Offices in Great Britain

Defra offices 150

Abbreviations and acronyms

Section A: Strategic overview

Chapter A1: Animal health and welfare strategy

Following the commitment by all three administrations in their responses to the FMD Inquiries and taking forward the strategies to support a sustainable agricultural sector¹, a comprehensive Animal Health and Welfare Strategy (AHWS) for Great Britain is being developed by Defra, the Scottish Executive and the Welsh Assembly Government. A separate but complementary strategy for animal health and welfare is being produced in Northern Ireland, which retains important links with the Republic of Ireland for disease control purposes.

Consultation exercise Outline of an Animal Health and

Following a round of informal discussions ^{Welfare Strategy with some stakeholders, a formal GB wide} The feedback from this scoping exercise led

consultation document was issued in January _{to the publication for consultation of an}2003. The consultation aimed to gather

Outline of an Animal Health and Welfare ^{views about what the strategy should cover,} Strategy on 15 July 2003. The outline strategythe roles and responsibilities of key players,

and what the long-term vision for a sustainable future for animal health and welfare in Britain should look like. The set out a vision for the future of animal

health and welfare in 10 years time, with the

aim of improving, where appropriate, the

health and welfare of kept animals and ^{consultation attracted 188 responses and} protecting public health from animal disease. ended on 3 April 2003.

The strategy is not just for Government but

As well as the written consultation Defra, _{establishes a framework which draws all}

^{the Scottish Executive and Welsh Assembly} stakeholders into achieving a shared vision ^{Government (WAG), held sector-based} over the next 10 years. It establishes the roles meetings (e.g. dairy, poultry, beef, wildlife, _{and responsibilities of all parties and a} welfare etc) and a series of regional workshops _{process for agreeing priorities and monitoring} attended by around 400 stakeholders and _{progress. Five strategic outcomes were} customers. The purpose of these was to _{identified which the strategy hopes to}gather information on sector priorities and

achieve:

long term aims, and to identify regional issues to ensure that the strategy is flexible _{• a clear understanding of roles and} enough to address such concerns. _{responsibilities;}

1 Strategy for Sustainable Farming and Food (Defra), Forward Strategy for Scottish Agriculture, Farming for the Future (Wales).

• a new partnership approach;
• promotion of animal health and welfare: prevention better than cure;
• a clearer understanding of costs and benefits of animal health and welfare; and
• effective delivery and enforcement.

The strategy is underpinned by the principle of partnership between the Government and all those involved in and affected by animal health and welfare. It sets out the rationale for Government intervention and the factors that will help inform Government decisions on animal health and welfare alongside the principles for sharing risks and costs.

New initiatives

As part of the outline strategy 16 new initiatives were identified which seek to fulfil the strategy’s vision and strategic outcomes. A number of the new initiatives work towards an integrated approach to disease prevention, for example, through enhanced veterinary surveillance and farm health planning.

Farm Health Planning

In July 2003 a consultation was conducted on a draft Action Plan for Positive Animal Health. This set out how Defra intends to work in partnership with the livestock industry, the veterinary profession and other key stakeholders to encourage the wider use of farm health planning and to raise standards in disease prevention and welfare. The draft action plan described how Defra, working with the Welsh Assembly Government (WAG), intends to implement five of the initiatives introduced by the outline Animal Health Welfare Strategy.

These initiatives include:

• a review of best practice in disease prevention in GB;
• a study of the costs and benefits of disease prevention and control practices for selected diseases;
• review of training and advice in animal husbandry and disease prevention; and
• dissemination of research knowledge.

In taking forward these initiatives, the Department will also be working closely with the Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department (SEERAD).

In developing this draft action plan there were a number of meetings with key interested parties, vets, livestock farming groups, farm assurance schemes, colleges, animal health distributors and food retailers. After listening carefully to the views of those at different stages of the food chain, and those who play a vital supporting role in animal health, the draft action plan has received broad support from those consulted.

Farm health planning is considered the best way forward in reducing the burden of disease that commonly affect herds and flocks on an everyday basis, as well as helping prevent the establishment of exotic diseases. A number of livestock and veterinary organisations have done much to promote this approach.

Studies are currently being set up and key organisations have been invited to participate in the stakeholder working group. It is important that these initiatives are implemented in partnership and encourage joint ownership of disease control issues.

The Working Group on Vets and Veterinary Services

The House of Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) Committee report on Vets and Veterinary Services was published on 15 October 2003. The report responded to concerns about whether there are enough large farm animal practitioners. The Committee noted that the economics of farming is leading to less use of veterinary services, reducing the attractiveness of large animal practice both to established veterinary practitioners and those entering the profession. These concerns are driven, in part, by the risk that a reduced level of veterinary influence in livestock farming will make any future outbreak of an exotic disease harder to detect.

The Committee conclusions and recommendations overlap with many of the issues under consideration as part of the development of the Animal Health and Welfare Strategy. In one of its new initiatives the outline strategy proposed the creation of a working group, in partnership with the veterinary profession and their customers, to consider the report’s conclusions and recommendations. The EFRA Committee supported this proposal and identified areas for consideration in its report. The working group will consider a wider range of issues than the EFRA Committee’s conclusions – eg the role of paraprofessionals – and will report by Summer 2004. The group’s findings will inform Defra’s response to the EFRA Committee.

Stakeholder Sectoral Sub-strategies

On 2 December 2003 the pig industry launched the Pig Health and Welfare Strategy. This strategy is being developed by the pig sector with support from Defra allowing industry to recognise their own priorities for animal health and welfare. Work is being carried out to encourage other sectors to develop their own strategies as the pig sector has done. This is in keeping with the Outline Animal Health and Welfare Strategy which encouraged sectors to consider producing their own strategies.

Implementation plans

In order to demonstrate how the whole strategy is progressing separate Implementation Plans for England, Scotland and Wales were published for consultation on 12 December 2003. These set out how the new initiatives are being taken forward. They also show how all current work carried Beyond the publication date the Department will continue to work in partnership with all those involved in animal health and welfare. Further information is available at: http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/ahws/defaul t.htm, or by contacting:

For England

Animal Health and Welfare Strategy & Delivery Division Defra Area 701 1a Page Street London SW1P 4PQ Telephone: 020 7904 6126 Email: ah.ws@defra.gsi.gov.uk

For Scotland

Animal Health and Welfare Division Room 345a Pentland House 47 Robbs Loan Edinburgh EH14 1TY Telephone: 0131 244 4198

For Wales

Animal and Plant Health Policy Division Agriculture and Rural Affairs Department Welsh Assembly Government Cathays Park Cardiff CF10 3NQ Email: animalhealth@ wales.gsi.gov.uk

out by government in animal health and welfare can be brigaded under the strategy. Following the consultation the implementation plan for England will be developed and updated for publication in light of the final strategy in 2004. It is hoped that the implementation plans will be a useful and accessible source of information for all those involved in animal health and welfare. It is envisaged that they will be an important part of the strategy updated annually, to report on progress as the strategy evolves.

Next steps

Following analyses of the responses to the Outline Strategy, an Interim Strategy Steering Board, which includes representatives of the livestock industry, veterinary profession and animal welfare interests, was formed to oversee the development of the Animal Health and Welfare Strategy for Great Britain. Arrangements are now well advanced for a formal launch of the strategy in June 2004.

Chapter A2 Veterinary surveillance strategy

Veterinary surveillance can be defined as ‘the on-going systematic collection and collation of useful information about disease, infection, intoxication or welfare in a defined animal population, closely integrated with timely analysis and dissemination of relevant outputs to stakeholders, including those responsible for control and preventative measures’.

Background

The purpose of veterinary surveillance is to detect changes in these areas in the animal population, in particular:

• outbreaks of exotic diseases;

• the appearance of a new disease, particularly one which may have zoonotic potential; and
• changes in the occurrence or effects of known conditions.

Veterinary surveillance systematically gathers information on the location and quantity of animal diseases or other conditions, so that the threat to animal or human health can be assessed and tracked. The Veterinary Surveillance Strategy (VSS) aims to coordinate and improve the way this is done, in order to provide timely evidence for those deciding on the best approaches to disease prevention and control.

Nomenclature

Surveillance has traditionally been described as either ‘active’ or ‘passive’. However, since these terms can be confusing the strategy adopts the terms ‘targeted’ and ‘scanning’.

• Targeted surveillance collects specific information about a defined disease or condition so that its level can be measured or its absence monitored.

• Scanning surveillance maintains a continuous watch over the endemic disease profile so that unexpected changes can be recognised.

Strategic goals

The strategy entitled Partnership, Priorities and Professionalism was launched on 22 October 2003 by the Chief Veterinary Officer (UK) and Chairman of the UK Surveillance Group on Diseases and Infections of Animals. It is one of the key cross-cutting new initiatives identified within the draft Animal Health and Welfare Strategy. The VSS contains five strategic goals:

1. To strengthen collaboration, with a comprehensive network of interested parties working in partnership, in the planning and funding of surveillance activities, in collecting and sharing samples and data, and in the delivery of relevant and intelligible reports. The network includes collaborators from across Government including the human health and food safety authorities as well as private sector partners.
2. To develop a new process to enable open, transparent and risk-based prioritisation of

surveillance activities. This is based on surveillance ‘profiles’, each of which summarises key information about a disease, indicator or group of similar conditions. This will include its epidemiology, importance to different stakeholders, availability of different tests, pertinent legislation, existing surveillance and a qualitative risk analysis. The profiles will be assigned a risk and impact score which will form the basis for proposals for ranking different surveillance topics in order of priority.

1. To derive better value from surveillance information and activities by improving the handling and sharing of data. RADAR (Rapid Analysis and Detection of Animal-related Risks), a new integrated information management system to support veterinary surveillance activities, will be developed over the next 10 years. It will increasingly be used to capture data from a wider range of existing systems and data sources, and to collate and analyse the data using epidemiological and mathematical modelling techniques to produce risk models and a variety of other relevant outputs.
2. To share information more widely with RADAR becoming an increasingly important tool.
3. To enhance the quality assurance of outputs with a ‘flag’ that describes the quality and limitations of each output.

Through these goals the strategy aims to deliver faster, better-targeted disease prevention and control measures via:

• earlier warning and more rapid detection of animal-related threats;

• open, transparent and defensible prioritisation of surveillance activities; and

• a clear, well-defined evidence base taken from surveillance activities and reports.

Public Consultation

The consolidated report containing the responses to the public consultation on the proposed strategy for enhancing veterinary surveillance was published in October 2003 and can be accessed from the Defra website at: http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/diseases/ veterinary/response.pdf

Delivery Plan

An outline of the delivery plan for the next 10 years in the Appendices shows the expected milestones for each strategic goal at this time. These milestones become more tentative in later years and are dependent on the availability of necessary resources and obtaining any necessary legislative changes. A review of progress is given below.

Progress to date

Business Assurance Groups

Four groups, comprising of key stakeholders with an interest in each of the five strategic goals, all met for the first time in September 2003. Their role is to work in partnership with Government as the 10 year programme of work for the strategy is delivered. In particular, they will help review current thinking, contribute ideas and develop and review the programme of work. A full report of the first four workshops held in September is available at: http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/diseases/ veterinary/ bagsreport.pdf

Disease Profiles

Response to the prototype template for the production of disease profiles has been very favourable and will be further reviewed and validated by the Business Assurance Groups. These profiles are central to the strategy and capture information on diseases or other conditions considered for surveillance, enabling surveillance activities to be prioritised in a transparent and risk-based way.

RADAR Prototype

The new RADAR integrated information management system, designed to support veterinary surveillance activities, has been demonstrated as a prototype to over thirty groups during 2003. These groups covered a range of interested parties such as the Scottish Agricultural College (SAC) Biennial Conference, the Association of Veterinary Teachers and Research Workers, various specialist veterinary societies and the South West Chamber of Rural Enterprise, among many others. The prototype was developed to provide ‘proof of technical concept’ and to help show the potential of the ‘full’ system. The development work on phase one of the full RADAR system is now underway.

Data Sharing

It is vital for the success of the strategy that ‘owners’ of observations or data, on animals or animal diseases, contribute to the RADAR resource. Fundamental to securing their confidence is the agreement of a data-sharing protocol to take account of many issues including the Data Protection Act, data validation, and data access permission. This has been discussed and will be finalised with the Business Assurance Groups.

Pig Infertility

In late 2002 there were reports of unexplained infertility in pig breeding herds which was felt to be more severe than the seasonal infertility often recognised in autumn. In response to concerns that this might represent a new syndrome, a questionnaire survey of practising veterinary surgeons was conducted throughout the UK in February and March 2003. This involved co-operation between the Veterinary Laboratories Agency (VLA), SAC, SEERAD, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development for Northern Ireland (DARDNI), and Defra, and was the first time that such a co-ordinated UK-wide investigation had been attempted.

Unexplained infertility was reported in 163 of 937 herds represented in the responses, and most of these herds (152) were located in England. The condition was characterised by increased returns to service, reduced farrowing rates and reduced numbers of pigs born, with no clear parity pattern. A project began in October 2003 to carry out a detailed investigation in 20 pig herds with unexplained infertility and this is ongoing.

Further Information

Further information on the VSS can be obtained at: http://www.defra.gov.uk/ animalh/diseases/veterinary/index.htm

Chapter A3 Animal Health and Welfare Research

The Department commissions research to provide scientific evidence in support of policy making. Results from on-going and completed scientific research are also used to provide strategic advice and support to regulatory measures. In the field of animal health and welfare, research projects have become progressively more closely aligned with Defra and the EU’s policy objectives of sustainable

agriculture and environmental diversity.

Supporting the animal health and welfare programmes over the year there was a wide range of research projects covering a diversity of areas from antimicrobial resistance to sustainable welfare practices for livestock. A list of current research in these programmes is available at www.defra.gov.uk/science. The broad categories and distribution of research funding within programmes are outlined in Table A3.1.

Prioritisation

The allocation of research funding is prioritised in line with key Departmental aims and over the year has focused increasingly on public health, exotic animal diseases and sustainable environment issues. Research commissioning has also been aligned with the main policy programmes to help implement the new Animal Health and Welfare Strategy. Risk assessments and cost benefit analyses are being used increasingly to guide policies and strategies. Scientific data is usually a critical input in this process, where appropriate research funding has therefore been directed to generating the required information and data in a number of areas for both current and future risk assessment needs.

During 2003/04 the Defra Science Directorate built programmes of work through consultation to address both forward look and horizon scanning issues that might affect the Department in future. The Animal Health and Welfare Directorate General has been actively engaged in this process to identify future needs and increase pro-active research as an aid to management of animal health issues.

Impact on EU decision making

Defra research made a significant impact on EU decision making through Standing Scientific Committees and other advisory bodies. Particularly important was research on Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) and transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) both to the EU Commission and the World Organisation for Animal Health. The Directorate also encourages scientists to participate in EU funded Framework Programmes to obtain maximum benefit from this research. The current EU programme encompassing all areas of research is Framework Six which runs from 2003 to 2006. Information on this and other

Table A3.1: Main animal health and welfare research activities and associated budget allocations for the financial year 2003/2004 (in £,000’s)

Veterinary Science Programme

Statutory and exotic diseases

Zoonoses

Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs)

Endemic diseases and alternatives to pharmaceutical control

Veterinary medicine Animal welfare

1 Veterinary Training Research Initiative 2 Newcastle Disease Virus

agriculture and animal health programmes can be found at www.cordis.lu/fp6. The EU Framework Seven programme will follow on from 2007 to 2010. The Department made representations to ensure that the topics in this programme included subjects that are relevant to animal health and welfare in Britain.

Independent advisory bodies

Over the year the Department has made further progress with taking up recommendations to Government from a number of independent advisory bodies including the Committee of Enquiry into Veterinary Research, chaired by Lord Selborne, the Royal Society Inquiry On Infectious Diseases in Livestock, and Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee (SEAC) Reports.

Following last year’s announcement of Defra’s joint funding of the Veterinary Training Research Initiative with the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and Scottish Higher Education Funding Council (SHEFC), the funders have made a commitment to spend £4.3m for the next five years on supporting programmes that develop further veterinary training and research in GB. The funders, guided by an independent selection panel, have completed the selection process and hope to begin funding five new initiatives from April 2004. The grants are aimed at improving defined areas of animal health research and developing expertise which will be available to advise the Government. They were due to be awarded to veterinary schools across Great Britain.

Section B: Protection of public health in relation to food safety and diseases transmissible to humans

Chapter B1: Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) and other Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (TSEs)

The decline in the BSE epidemic continues. Reports of clinical suspects are decreasing as is the proportion of slaughtered suspects in which disease is confirmed. The targeted surveillance programme also provides valuable additional information on the prevalence of disease and results also indicate a similar decline in the number of cases identified. The number of animals tested under the targeted surveillance programme increased during the last year.

Scrapie has been present in this country for over 200 years with no indication of any risk to human health. However, in light of the link between BSE and variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD), scrapie has assumed a much greater significance. Sheep are likely to have been exposed to the same infected feed that resulted in BSE in cattle. There is therefore a theoretical possibility that BSE is present in sheep. In scrapie, infection can be found in a wide variety of tissues and there is evidence of horizontal transmission. If BSE were present in sheep and if it behaved as scrapie, it would present a potential threat to human health. Much of the current international interest in scrapie is a result of this possibility. Cases of natural scrapie in GB are examined for any evidence of BSE using the latest laboratory techniques.

The BSE epidemic Among the animals slaughtered as suspects,

the proportion in which disease is confirmed ^{The decline in the epidemic continues. In} has been declining since the 1990s. In 20032003, disease was confirmed in 175 animals _{it had fallen to around 41%.} presented as clinical suspects (scanning surveillance). A further 374 cases were confirmed from 394,685 animals tested in BSE cases born after the reinforced feed the targeted surveillance programme. This ban of 1996

^{compares with the 2002 figures of 445} BSE was confirmed in 41 animals born after clinical cases and 594 cases from testing _{1 August 1996, the date from which the} 332,471 animals in the targeted surveillance _{reinforced feed ban was thought to be} programme.

effective. Of these, 11 were animals presented as clinical suspects and 30 were detected in the targeted surveillance programme.

The origin of infection for these animals is not yet clear. Maternal transmission is one possibility but would not account for more than a few cases. The geographical distribution is different to that of confirmed cases born before August 1996 and suggests a more random exposure to infection. The most likely possibility is considered to be exposure through contaminated imported feed ingredients prior to the introduction of tighter regulation, which came into force in the other EU countries in 2001.

A case control study is to be carried out to identify risk factors associated with infection. A pilot for the study was set up in 2003, to be run in the early part of 2004.

Recognition of moderate risk status

Although there has not yet been any formal EU classification of the BSE status of countries under the EU TSE Regulations, the UK is considered as falling into the ‘high risk’ category as defined by the Office International des Epizooties (OIE). This was originally defined as an incidence of clinically presented BSE cases in excess of 100 cases per million cattle over two years old per year.

*The result on one case from 2003 is pending

The OIE have since amended this level to include additional cases identified by targeted surveillance programmes and it is now 200 cases per million cattle (where targeted surveillance is carried out).

The OIE have not specified how many animals should be tested by targeted surveillance, but the UK figures have been adjusted to give the number of cases that would be expected if all cattle over 30 months of age were tested at slaughter. The methodology for this calculation has been submitted to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) for comment. According to this method of calculation the incidence of BSE fell below the 200 cases per million threshold during September 2003.

Subject to a satisfactory assessment of our BSE controls by the European Commission’s Food and Veterinary Office (FVO), this should lead to recognition of the UK as a country of ‘moderate’ BSE risk status. The benefits of a change in status should include the right to trade in bovine products on the same basis as other EU Member States. This should include the abolition of the beef export ban, the Date Based Export Scheme for beef of UK origin and the Export Approved (XAP) Scheme for the export of beef of non-UK origin.

Scrapie

The number of reported cases of scrapie declined from mid-2003, possibly reflecting awareness of impending compulsory flock controls under EU Regulation 999/2001 (as amended). The numbers of confirmed field cases are indicated in Table B1.1.

In addition to the confirmed results, 42 samples collected in the abattoir and fallen stock surveys (see the section on Targeted Surveillance for TSEs) gave ‘unconfirmed’ results. Of these, 35 were abattoir samples, three were from fallen stock and four were from animals dead in transit. These ‘unconfirmed’ cases are those which tested positive by the Bio-Rad Platelia ELISA but negative by immunohistochemistry (IHC), an OIE approved diagnostic method. Some of the unconfirmed brainstem samples were from sheep with PrP genotypes not normally associated with scrapie. Investigations into these cases are continuing in conjunction with colleagues from other countries.

Experimental transmission of BSE to sheep

In 2003, the Institute of Animal Health (IAH), Compton reported that BSE had been experimentally reproduced in three out of 19 sheep of the ARR/ARR genotype which had been inoculated intracerebrally with 0.05g BSE-infected cattle brain. They also found that ARR/ARR and ARR/ARQ sheep orally dosed with 5g of BSE-infected bovine brain homogenate had not developed clinical signs of BSE at five years post challenge, whereas ARQ/ARQ (scrapie susceptible) sheep had all succumbed between 1.7 and 3.1 years.

The transmission of BSE to ARR/ARR sheep by the unnatural route of intracerebral inoculation indicates resistance is not

absolute.

UK Contingency Plan

The UK has been preparing a draft contingency plan for action in the event that BSE is identified in sheep or goats. This plan has been developed with the assistance of the Department of Health (DH), the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and the Devolved Administrations, and will be subject to public consultation in 2004.

Results of postal survey of sheep farmers in 2002

This survey in October 2002 indicated that 1% of respondents considered that they had experienced a case of scrapie in the previous 12 months. This is in comparison to 2.7% similar in a 1998 survey. It is not yet known whether this represents a true change.

The National Scrapie Plan

The National Scrapie Plan (NSP) is now into its third year of testing, and almost 900,000 animals were genotyped by the end of 2003. The plan combines scrapie gene testing and selective breeding to increase the proportion of scrapie resistant sheep in British flocks. Since the launch of the NSP in 2001 several new initiatives have been introduced. Extensive information on the plan is published on the internet at: www.defra.gov.uk/nsp

Ram Genotyping Scheme

The Ram Genotyping Scheme for pure-bred registered and non-registered flocks has received some 10,000 applications since being launched in July 2001, with over 300,000 animals sampled in 2003 and some 10,000 completed visits.

Rare Breeds Genotype Survey

The NSP has been working in partnership with the Rare Breeds Survival Trust (RBST) to carry out a full analysis of the genotype results obtained so far from rare breed flocks. The outcome of this detailed study will help to inform our future scrapie control strategies for rare breeds under the NSP. Until this research is complete, and as a temporary measure pending the outcome of this research, all appeals against the slaughter requirement for rams with a VRQ genotype, from those RBST members who have joined the scheme, will be automatically accepted.

Soay sheep were one of the rare breeds surveyed

Ewe Genotyping Service

Between December 2002 and March 2003 some 160,000 ewes were blood tested but not electronic identification (EID) bolused, as part of the Ewe Genotyping Service. The service operated to better inform future breeding decisions of NSP members.

Scrapie-affected flocks

Sheep producers whose flocks have had a confirmed case of scrapie between July 1998 and October 2003 will be invited to join the NSP Voluntary Scrapie Flocks Scheme (VSFS) for historically scrapie-affected flocks. Expressions of Interest forms were issued to 461 producers eligible for the Scheme in December 2003 and over 170 positive responses have been received. The intention is to launch the scheme in April 2004. Farmers will be able to engage their flocks in a breeding programme that will increase levels of genetic resistance to scrapie. This will be achieved through the selective use of scrapie resistant breeding rams and by avoiding the use of breeding ewes with the most susceptible genotypes. Scrapie susceptible animals identified on these farms will be culled and replaced with more resistant stock.

A new EU TSE Regulation requires compulsory action on farms with a case of scrapie reported and confirmed after 1 October 2003. The EU measures are similar in many respects to the VSFS but more onerous in terms of movement restrictions and the length of time those restrictions apply. A public consultation has been carried out on how it is proposed to implement the EU measures and it is hoped that the outcome of that consultation will be announced shortly. Legislation to enforce the EU regulation should be in place by July 2004, and this legislation is not retrospective.

Farmers who have a case of scrapie reported and confirmed between 1 October 2003 and July 2004 will be invited to comply with the EU measures on a voluntary basis. If they do not wish to take this course of action they may be invited to join the VSFS.

Semen testing

The semen testing service, which was launched in July 2002, has so far resulted in the NSP receiving 151 applications. So far 341 animals have been sampled and 328 results have been returned.

Semen archive

In order to conserve semen from scrapie-susceptible sheep a semen archive has been initiated by Defra. This could be used in the event that harmful traits are observed due to selective breeding for the ARR/ARR genotype.

Flock registration framework

EU legislation requires the establishment of a voluntary framework to recognise the TSE resistant status of certain sheep flocks. British rural affairs Departments consider that a two-tier system of recognition which complies solely with the EU minimum requirement would not sufficiently represent our stratified sheep industry. A public consultation exercise included proposals to go beyond the EU minimum requirements. We will be publicising the outcomes of that exercise and the benefits of membership of the registration framework in 2004.

Strategic review

Work began to develop a long-term strategy for the NSP in consultation with stakeholders, not least to ensure that Britain is in a position to meet its EU obligations to have introduced a compulsory genotype based breeding programme by April 2005.

Field capability

Around 180 State Veterinary Service (SVS) Animal Health officers have been trained and certified for NSP work. In addition, more than 370 local veterinary inspectors and 39 Veterinary Officers have attended the NSP’s training sessions.

Shows & sales