The Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association (ICMSA) has said that while bluetongue vaccination uptake has been positive, the Department needs to look further into the dosage size of vaccine packs, as the ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach was not suitable and hampering effective vaccination.
“If we continue to only have access to 50-shot packs, we are going to see an awful lot of wastage, as not every herd has 50 or 100 animals or exact multiples of 50,” ICMSA livestock chair Michael O’Connell said.
He added that it’s inevitable that smaller breeding herds will not use the vaccine, despite funding available in the Beef Welfare Scheme and the Sheep Welfare Scheme.
Sharing vaccines
“The idea of farmers sharing vaccines is ultimately not a recommended scenario either due to handling constraints or cross-contamination if cases of bluetongue occurs on farm,” he continued.
“The viability of the vaccine overall should be a separate question from how the vaccine should be handled and distributed in a way that minimises cross-contamination and herd security.
“Smaller pack sizes will give all farmers ample opportunity to access vaccine without wasting money on vaccine that is not used."
Vaccination
“We need the Department to get after this much more as, frankly, their efforts to get farmers to vaccinate last spring left a lot to desire and were half-hearted.
“We understand it is not possible to fence out or keep out midges, but implementing other biosecurity measures is paramount and it is up to the Department to encourage vaccination, not just [the] ICMSA.”
The ICMSA called for all fallen animals be tested for bluetongue and stressed the importance of farmers being vigilant over the next few weeks for clinical signs of the disease.
The livestock chair said that the case for vaccination is even more compelling and he urged herd owners who have not yet had their herds vaccinated to contact their vet and seek their advice on best practice at this stage in the year.
SHARING OPTIONS