This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Ewe Genotyping Service
25/11/2002
A one-off Ewe Genotyping Service for existing and new
members of the National Scrapie Plan was announced
today.
The service, which will provide up to 60 tests per flock
on a first-come, first-served basis, will become available
between December 2002 and mid March 2003 or until the
available testing capacity is exhausted if that occurs
sooner.
Under a plan submitted to the European Commission, the
Government will cover testing and associated transport
costs with producers covering the costs of their own
private veterinarian to undertake the necessary blood
sampling.
Minister for Environment and Rural Development Ross
Finnie said:
"This ewe-testing service will provide Scottish
producers with a significant means to take advantage of the
new scheme rules on type 3 rams and to quickly boost the
level of genetic resistance to scrapie in their flocks
whilst maintaining other important breed
characteristics.
"It is a welcome development but because of limited
spare testing capacity NSP members should take advantage of
this opportunity as soon as possible this year."
The National Scrapie Plan (NSP) is a voluntary,
long-term programme of breeding for genetic resistance. A
sample of blood is taken for genotype testing. The result
of this test determines whether the sheep may be bred from
or not.
This is the first time a dedicated testing service for
ewes has been made available through the NSP. It will
utilise spare NSP laboratory capacity over the winter
months, when demand under the ram genotyping schemes is
expected to be low.
It will in any case terminate no later than the middle
of March 2003. The service will allow individual breeders
to use the results to mate ewes with previously
genotype-tested rams. This will enable breeders to move
their flock more quickly towards genetic resistance.
The service will be run and administered by the NSP
Administration Centre (NSPAC), Worcester alongside the
existing NSP Ram Genotyping Schemes. Ewes tested under this
service will not be electronically identified or issued
with certificates but producers will be issued with summary
genotype results of all animals to help inform their
breeding choices for next year.
NSPAC will provide blood sampling kits; a genotype test
for each sample; and a printed summary of the results.
Owners will be responsible for arranging for their
veterinarian to visit and collect blood samples from their
ewes; for any costs associated with this visit, and for
posting the sample (at Government expense) to the
laboratory.
Scrapie is a fatal neurological disease of sheep. It
has been present in the national flock for over 250 years,
but is not transmissible to humans. However, it leads to
serious animal welfare problems and its symptoms are not
dissimilar to BSE which is a similar type of TSE. The NSP
aims to reduce and over time eradicate scrapie from the
national flock. This will also have the benefit of
removing the theoretical threat of BSE, should there be any
scientific evidence that this disease is within the
national flock.
The Executive advises farmers wishing to benefit from
the scheme not to incur further costs until they have
received confirmation that their applications have been
successful.