Vaccination against Bluetongue will be voluntary in Scotland this year. The decision, agreed with the farming industry, follows the success of the compulsory vaccination campaign last year.
The serological survey which we carried out in September 2009 confirmed that there had been a very high level of compliance with the compulsory vaccination campaign.
BTV8 has not been found circulating in Great Britain in 2009.
A GB wide BTV surveillance exercise was carried out in November 2009. This was done to give us a clearer picture of the BTV8 disease situation and to enable us to identify any undetected incursion across a range of serotypes, including BTV1 which has been recently circulating in France.
Results of this surveillance have shown no evidence of any circulating virus in GB with all samples testing negative. This was the best possible outcome, and takes us a step closer to being able to consider declaring freedom from disease at some point in the future.
Vaccination is however still to be encouraged, especially for breeding animals which may be exposed to infection in future years. Responsible sourcing of animals also remains vital, particularly when we enter the new transmission season in the spring.
The numbers of new outbreaks of BTV8 across mainland Europe in 2009 were also greatly reduced from the levels seen in 2007 and 2008, demonstrating the success of vaccination programmes there.
The FAQ section provides more detail on the disease situation and the vaccination campaign. You can also obtain bluetongue guidance from your local Animal Health Office.