New Scrapie genotyping service

By John Shirley

A new Scrapie genotyping service for sheep is coming on stream.

Members from each of the pedigree sheep breed societies have been invited to the Irish Equine Centre in Naas for Thursday 27 February to hear details of a new countrywide service of Scrapie genotyping which has been established by the Irish Equine Centre and the UCD vet faculty. Last year the UCD unit genotyped about 5,000 sheep but the UCD business will now be transferred to the Equine Centre.

The new unit will use slightly different technology but the price of the test will continue to operate around €25 a sheep.

Meanwhile, the Department of Agriculture has still to reveal their plans for a survey of the genotypes pedigree sheep. The EU has requested this but the deadline has moved from July 2003 to October 2003. After that the department must furnish plans for selection of Scrapie resistent genotypes.

Tested ewes should deliver Scrapie monitored status

A request that the cull ewes routinely passing the Scrapie test in export sheep plants convey the same Scrapie monitored status to flocks as is given to pedigree flocks that sent in heads for testing has come from the IFA.

This breakthrough would allow commercial breeders such as those in Carlow/Wicklow/Galway to resume the traditional trade in exporting breeding sheep to Northern Ireland.

A spokesman for the IFA expects a positive response from the Department of Agriculture to the request.