Farmers are being urged to consult their vet about vaccinations as part of a ‘farm specific battle plan’ to protect their herd or flock against bluetongue serotype 3 this spring.
The #BattleBluetongue campaign has been launched across the ruminant industry by AHDB (Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board) and RH&W (Ruminant Health & Welfare) to aid slowing the spread of the disease.
Unlike other BTV vaccines, the currently available BTV-3 vaccines are suppressive, not preventative. This means that they will not prevent your animals from being infected or infectious, although they may reduce the clinical signs experienced.
For this reason, the best defence against the spread of the disease is through a combination of vaccination and restricted movement controls. For more on the vaccines, read: Bluetongue vaccine licence available in all English counties.
Farmers are being encouraged to:
- Assess your risk – use RH&W's vaccine decision maker tool.
- Protect your business – help reduce the impact of restrictions by managing risks that can be controlled on livestock holdings.
- Defend your stock – vaccinate the right animals and reduce transmission.
Reducing the impact
NFU President Tom Bradshaw said: “The BTV3 vaccine is an important tool in reducing the impact of the disease. It is vital that there is enough availability for livestock farmers in all areas of England if they wish.
“The vaccines appear to reduce mortality and the severity of clinical signs – they will suppress the virus, not prevent it.
“So, while they won’t stop animals from becoming infected, they could reduce the impact of the disease on individual animals and therefore provide an animal welfare benefit.
“Vaccines are available on prescription from a vet and can be administered by either a vet or the animal keeper. We recommend that farmers wishing to use the vaccine seeks advice from their farm vet.”
Dr Amey Brassington, senior animal health and welfare scientist at AHDB, said: “By working through the new resource produced for the campaign with their vet - a vaccine decision maker tool - farmers can understand their BTV-3 risk to then defend their stock by vaccinating the right animals.
“Farmers are encouraged to develop farm specific battle plans with the aim to help increase the level of vaccination for high-risk stock to provide some level of defence against the disease on farms.”
