Chief Vet says Scotland can ‘avoid’ foot and mouth after case found in Germany

Scotland’s Chief Veterinary Officer has insisted a new outbreak of foot and mouth disease can be avoided – although she stressed she understood the “concern” of farmers after the disease was confirmed in Germany.

Sheila Voas spoke out after the disease – which was last in Scotland in 2001 – was found in a herd of water buffalo in Brandenburg.

In the wake of that the import of cattle, pigs and sheep to the UK from Germany has been banned.

Foot and mouth disease has not been seen in Scotland since 2001 when animals were slaughtered with their carcasses burnt (Barry Batchelor/PA) PA Media

Meanwhile the risk level for the disease in the UK has been increased to medium, with the Scottish Government stressing it is continuing to monitor the situation.

The measures come as authorities bid to avoid a repeat of the situation in 2001, when some six million pigs, cattle and sheep had to be slaughtered in farms across the UK in a bid to eradicate the disease.

With farms in Scotland among those impacted Ms Voas said: “I appreciate the concern this latest development will be causing to the farming community and wider agricultural sector in Scotland.”

The Chief Veterinary Officer added: “We have not seen foot and mouth disease in Scotland since 2001, and, alongside government restrictions, with strict on-farm biosecurity, compliance with the swill feeding ban, and the reporting of all suspicions of notifiable disease promptly – we can avoid a further outbreak.”

She continued: “Quickly recognising clinical signs of the disease in livestock is vital to controlling and preventing it from spreading.”

Ms Voas added that while foot and mouth disease is “usually readily seen” in cows and pigs, sheep “do not always show obvious clinical signs”, and so she urged sheep farmers to “be particularly vigilant”.

Meanwhile Scottish agriculture minister Jim Fairlie said: “We have robust contingency plans in place to manage the risk of this disease to protect farmers and our food security.”

He said preparedness for a foot and mouth outbreak was tested in an exercise in 2018, which had simulated a “medium to large scale” event which had spread from England to Wales and Scotland.

Mr Fairlie insisted he is “confident in our ability to manage any such occurrence”.

The minister added: “I am urging livestock keepers to remain vigilant for signs of the disease and remind them they have a legal requirement to immediately report any suspicion of disease in Scotland to the local Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) Field Services Office.”