Scots angry over bull import

The Scottish livestock industry’s self-imposed ban on imports from Europe has been shattered following the legal importation of a bull from bluetongue-infected France to the Scottish Borders.

NFU Scotland president Jim McLaren said he was “extremely disappointed” that the voluntary ban had been broken, and added that he had tried to speak to the farmer concerned.

“I wanted to highlight that importing animals from Europe presents the greatest risk of bringing bluetongue to Scotland,” he said.

“I would reiterate NFU Scotland’s previous calls that the industry maintain its voluntary ban on imports of livestock from BT-infected areas, particularly because when the vector-free period (in which midges, which carry and transmit the virus, are virtually inactive) ends, the risk of transmission is greatly increased.”

With the industry now on high-alert, Scotland’s chief veterinary officer, Charles Milne issued a statement reassuring farmers that the local animal health office was monitoring the animal and making checks.

Mr Milne warned: “I would urge farmers to think very carefully about where they source stock and to avoid taking any unnecessary risks.”

But he said that the imported bull had almost certainly been vaccinated against BTV8 and BTV1 strains of the bluetongue virus.

Scotland’s compulsory vaccination deadline is less than four weeks away, and 65% of stock has now been vaccinated.

Mr Milne said he expected the rate of uptake of vaccine to increase in the next few weeks when animals were brought in for lambing, calving and annual checks.