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Representatives from the NI sheep sector have questioned whether sheep scab should continue to be classified as a notifiable disease by DAERA.
Local members of the veterinary profession, farm lobby groups and agricultural retailers have been in discussions about setting up a sheep scab eradication programme in NI.
The highly contagious disease is caused by a mite and can lead to wool loss, reduced animal performance and welfare issues.
No one has figures on the prevalence rate and there is no surveillance work going on. Although anecdotally there seems to be less sheep scab about
Farmers have a legal requirement to report outbreaks of notifiable diseases to government authorities. Other examples include avian influenza, BSE and brucellosis.
However, despite being a notifiable disease, cases of sheep scab are under-reported to DAERA and local farmers and vets suggest that the disease is a problem in several parts of NI.
“No one has figures on the prevalence rate and there is no surveillance work going on. Although anecdotally there seems to be less sheep scab about this year because more farmers are dipping again,” said Paul Crawford from the Association of Veterinary Surgeons Practising in NI.
At the latest meeting about a potential eradication programme, one of the main issues discussed was whether the current status of sheep scab as a notifiable disease is a help or hindrance to control.
Effective
The argument is that farmers with a sheep scab problem do not report it to avoid visits from vets and government officials, but this also means that an effective control plan is not put in place for the farm.
There are also concerns that some farmers are incorrectly using veterinary products such as injectable avermectins and organophosphate-based dips, and this could lead to resistance issues.
The issue has been raised with DAERA, and officials are understood to be looking into the need for sheep scab to be a notifiable disease. However, one potential issue could be that it has to be notifiable to allow trade access for sheep into certain export markets.
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