The famous quote “prevention is better than cure” by the famous Dutch philosopher Desiderius Erasmus can be worked into many aspects of life, but is particularly relevant when it comes to keeping animals healthy.

If you had the choice of trying to prevent a disease or trying to cure it, many would opt for the first option, but it often isn’t as clear cut as that and sometimes best laid plans fall asunder.

Vaccination as an aid to prevention has been around for a long time for other diseases like clostridial disease, BVD and leptospirosis. It’s sometimes hard to visualise the impact that an outbreak of a disease can have on your farm and if there were no issues in the past, you could be forgiven for wondering why you should bother at all.

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However, if you talk to anybody who has had an outbreak of the above diseases, they are all vaccinating as they know the importance of preventing another outbreak on their farm..

I attended a bluetongue farmer information meeting in Co Monaghan last week with a number of excellent speakers.

Doreen Corridan is one of the most respected health and breeding experts in the country.

When Doreen speaks, farmers listen, and they listened last Thursday night to the various examples of why vaccination is a no-brainer for anyone with breeding stock – cattle or sheep.

Doreen didn’t major on the mortality issues on farms, but instead outlined the detrimental effect that a bluetongue outbreak could have on the fertility of a herd, including abortions and high empty rates that would have a long-lasting, knock-on effect on the profitability of a farm for years down the road.

She made some interesting comments on the night about cows being allowed to gain condition at grass and come out of negative energy balance before the vaccination programme commences.

Reading the experiences of vets and researchers involved in bluetongue outbreaks in both the UK and the Netherlands, the disease has the capability to wipe out huge numbers of animals should a severe outbreak occur.

There are numerous on-farm examples and research literature in those countries showing very high mortality rates in both sheep flocks and on cattle farms.

Ireland is in the unique position of being the last country in northwestern Europe to get bluetongue, so we can use the experience other countries have had of the disease in managing it here.

In the Netherlands, mortality in vaccinated herds and flocks was significantly lower than that of non-vaccinated herds. Weight gains and milk production was also higher in vaccinated herds compared with non-vaccinated herds.

The economic benefits are clear cut. The vaccine costs in the region of €3.50-€4.50/shot, with cattle requiring two shots three weeks apart and sheep requiring just one shot

It’s a relatively small outlay to protect animals which are high in value and to safeguard against fertility issues in the future.

A booster shot will be required every year if the disease is still an issue in the future. The 50-dose vial isn’t ideal for smaller herds, but some farmers with smaller herds are working together to make best use of the opened bottle within the 10 hour usage timeframe.

There is some anxiety around vaccinating for bluetongue on the same day as vaccinating for other diseases like leptospirosis and BVD. The current data from the Netherlands, where vaccinations took place on the same day, would suggest that there is no negative impact being reported.

The move by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Martin Heydon to include bluetongue vaccination as an option in the Beef and Sheep Welfare schemes is the right one and should help encourage drystock farmers to vaccinate their animals ahead of the high-risk period.

If you are in any doubt, consult with your vet – but don’t delay too much longer on making the decision to vaccinate.

Midge activity will start to increase from next month, dependent on temperatures, so it is important to have a plan in place around vaccine purchase and administration in the next few weeks.