Veterinary Services

The Scottish Executive announced proposed changes to compensation levels to help simplify and rationalise payments for cattle affected by bovine tuberculosis, enzootic bovine leucosis (EBL), brucellosis and bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) to ensure that cattle suffering from disease can be removed from farms with no delay caused by valuation, helping to control outbreaks more effectively and lessen the chance of disease.

• Louping-ill increases in Scotland
• Acidosis in cattle and sheep
• Salmonella Dublin enteritis and abortion in cattle
• Fasciolosis in sheep · Streptococcus suis in pigs
• Fowl cholera in turkeys
• Yersiniosis in red deer

The Scottish Executive announced proposed changes to compensation levels to help simplify and rationalise payments for cattle affected by bovine tuberculosis, enzootic bovine leucosis (EBL), brucellosis and bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) to ensure that cattle suffering from disease can be removed from farms with no delay caused by valuation, helping to control outbreaks more effectively and lessen the chance of disease.

As noted in the September report based on SAC diagnostic submissions, an increased incidence of louping –ill was recorded in sheep this autumn with outbreaks recorded as far apart as Sutherland in the north and Wigtownshire in the south. Figure 1 shows the geographic distribution of outbreaks in cattle and sheep recorded in Scotland during 2004.

The apparent increased incidence in sheep is consistent with the marked increased incidence of a variety of tick-borne diseases in animals and humans across Europe in recent years accompanied by increasing spring, autumn and winter temperatures.