Official Report 178KB pdf
The next item of business is a statement by Jim Fairlie on the response to the detection of bluetongue virus serotype 3 in the south-west of Scotland.
Questions will be taken at the end of the statement, so there should be no interventions or interruptions.
15:04
I would like to update the Parliament on the Scottish Government’s actions in response to the detection of bluetongue virus serotype 3, or BTV-3, in the south-west of Scotland.
Over the past three years, the Scottish Government has been watching with concern the developing disease outbreak in England and Wales, and we have engaged with the livestock industry to develop, jointly, a control strategy that is effective against the threat of bluetongue but also proportionate. I thank all the stakeholders who have been involved for their constructive engagement, and I thank the wider farming community, who have had to endure a difficult time, particularly over the past few weeks.
I have been clear about what lies ahead. The risk of bluetongue spreading further across Scotland next year is increasing, so it is essential that all animal keepers review their vaccination plans now and prepare for the very high likelihood that cases might emerge in new parts of the country next season.
Bluetongue is a notifiable disease of ruminant livestock that affects cattle, sheep, goats, deer and camelids. It does not affect humans or food safety. I repeat: it does not affect humans or food safety. However, it is a very serious disease for animals, causing deaths in sheep and severe fertility problems in sheep and cattle.
Bluetongue is spread by midges rather than animal to animal, although it can be passed from an infected mother to its offspring or through breeding. Movement of infected animals can take the disease long distances, which is why animal movement controls are effective in slowing the spread of disease in the initial stages.
Culling of infected animals is also appropriate but, crucially, once the disease is being transmitted locally by midges, those measures become less effective. Another feature of bluetongue is that the virus transmission is dependent on weather. It can be completed only at average temperatures above 13°C, meaning that there are times of the year when some restrictions can be eased.
I will recap the recent history of the virus. Although there are other serotypes of bluetongue in Europe, BTV-3 has been the most serious in recent years, and it has hit some European countries, such as the Netherlands, Germany and France, quite hard. It was first detected in the south-east of England on 10 November 2023, with a wind-borne incursion over the Channel from continental Europe being the most likely plausible hypothesis.
At that time, there was no vaccine for the virus and existing vaccines against other serotypes did not offer cross-protection, but the pharmaceutical companies worked quickly to produce new vaccines. Prior to full market authorisations, which were given only in 2025, officials worked with other United Kingdom nations and the Veterinary Medicines Directorate to permit the use of those vaccines under emergency licences.
Since then, the Scottish Government has repeatedly issued advice to the industry in which we strongly advise keepers to consult their private veterinary practice to consider vaccinating their flocks and herds. That is because vaccination remains the only long-term strategy for controlling the disease. The disease has spread gradually from the south-east of England, with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs declaring all of England a restricted zone in July 2025. The virus then reached Wales, the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland, which then meant that it could reach the Scottish border.
In response, last year, I met representatives of the Scottish livestock industry to review our control strategy and consider whether to continue attempting to keep the disease out for as long as possible or to accept some level of risk to allow more flexible movements into Scotland. We recognised movement controls would disrupt the free flow of livestock from the border but, following the meeting, I agreed to maintain the tight restrictions to keep the disease out of Scotland for as long as possible, allowing keepers time to vaccinate their stock. The strategy was successful—until recently, Scotland was free from bluetongue, and most of it remains so.
Unfortunately, on 8 August, the first case of the virus in Scotland was detected on a farm near Newton Stewart. That was followed by three more cases that were clustered around the area over the following week. After initial attempts to contain the disease, further positive cases were found. In response, and with close engagement with livestock industry representatives, we quickly took the decision to strengthen controls and, from 20 August, put in place a temporary control zone to help to contain the disease and prevent it from spreading to other parts of Scotland. Bluetongue has now been confirmed on 20 Scottish premises, all of which are in the temporary control zone. The most plausible source of infection is a plume of infected midges blown from other affected areas over water, and no links with livestock movements have been detected.
I want to be clear that I fully understand that the restrictions have caused pain and concern in the industry, especially for those who rely on trade with other parts of the country. My officials have been working closely with stakeholders to understand and mitigate those effects where possible.
Industry stakeholders as well as EPIC—the Scottish Government-funded consortium of experts on animal disease outbreaks—and the national reference laboratory for bluetongue provided evidence that informed the Scottish Government’s response. Immediately, we published a suite of movement licences to help mitigate some of the impacts that were caused by movement restrictions without compromising our efforts to control the disease. Some of those licences have been adjusted based on our ongoing dialogue with the sector and in recognition of the close industry-Government co-operation on the disease control strategy. I am extremely grateful for that co-operation.
I also put on record that the only long-term sustainable strategy against a disease that spreads through the air is to vaccinate against it. All authorised vaccines are effective against the worst effects of bluetongue, but vaccination must happen well ahead of the expected resurgence of the disease next year. I urge all keepers to talk to their vets and to seriously consider vaccinating.
I encourage MSPs across the chamber to please do likewise and, when speaking to their constituents who are ruminant livestock owners, I urge them to have conversations about vaccination. I am aware that there is concern about the supply of vaccines, but I am assured that that is only short term. The manufacturers and wholesalers have been diverting millions of doses from European stock to Great Britain, and there is more vaccine in production, so I repeat my message: please speak to your vet and put in an order to avoid a repetition of the shortages that we have seen this year.
On a more technical point, I must inform the Parliament that the temporary control zone will change tomorrow. The deputy chief veterinary officer has determined, after considering all available evidence that, regrettably, the disease is in circulation in the south-west of Scotland. That means that, legally, the temporary control zone must be replaced by a restricted zone covering the same area on 10 September. The change means that livestock trade within the zone and with other restricted zones in England and Wales will be more relaxed, as they will have equal disease status. Taking livestock into the free area will continue to be done under licence and with conditions.
Although we have no choice but to establish a restricted zone, the risk of spread reduces during the colder months. That is why, after listening to industry feedback, we will relax some of those restrictions on the movement of some animals out of the zone from 10 September. From that date, store, fattening and non-pregnant female animals will no longer need to be tested or vaccinated to move from a restricted zone to a disease-free area of Scotland. However, some breeding animals, such as breeding bulls, pregnant cows and heifers, will require testing before leaving the zone, unless they have been vaccinated with a vaccine that prevents viremia. Breeding male camelids and deer and pregnant camelids and deer will also require pre-movement testing.
We have to be honest about the limits of the movement controls. Once the virus is circulating in midges, those controls offer no meaningful protection, so we should not rely on them as a safeguard going forward. Vaccination is, and will remain, the only viable long-term strategy for controlling bluetongue. I urge anyone with susceptible livestock to speak to their vet as soon as possible to discuss the right approach for their animals as well as to ensure that a vaccine is available when they need it.
It is important that we plan on the basis that bluetongue is becoming an endemic disease in parts of Scotland that we will need to live and work with, rather than one that we can simply keep out. Tackling that challenge will depend on us working together—Governments, vets and the farming community. That means sharing information honestly and timeously and acting on the best available evidence.
I am committed to continuing that partnership, and I take the opportunity to thank the livestock industry for its continued constructive engagement in the efforts to help us control the disease and in the resilience that stakeholders have shown through an incredibly difficult period.
I will allow around 20 minutes for the minister to answer questions on the issues raised in his statement. Members who wish to ask a question should press their request-to-speak button now.
I draw members’ attention to my entry in the register of interests, which shows that I have a crofting business. I also thank the minister for advance sight of his statement.
It is regrettable that we find ourselves in the situation that the bluetongue virus is now circulating in south-west Scotland. We have seen the devastation that the disease has caused in parts of the rest of the UK, and the significant economic impact that it has had. The timing of the outbreak presents some real challenges at the busiest time of the year for livestock sales and as we enter the sheep breeding season. However, with temperatures dropping, there is now an opportunity to prepare for what we might be facing in the spring and summer next year.
Although I accept that this is far from an exact science, can the minister advise on any plans to model what we could expect the spread of the disease to look like next year to help provide accurate advice to livestock keepers in other parts of the country?
I absolutely take on board all Donald MacKinnon’s points. As we are moving into the sales season, the spread could not have happened at a worse time. Store stock and breeding stock will be moving all over the country, and I absolutely get the difficulty that that will cause.
We have modelled where animals are moving to, but we cannot tell whether a midge or an infected animal has moved. It is incredibly difficult to do that. However, it re-emphasises the point that the only way that we will be able to manage the disease in the livestock sector is to get those vaccines into animals.
I thank the minister for advance sight of his statement.
After what has been a very challenging summer for Scottish farming, the spread of bluetongue has added further pressure, particularly for many of my South Scotland constituents. Given that the disease had clearly established a foothold in the south-west of England from 2025, following its initial detection in 2023, what was the Government’s plan apart from sitting on its hands and naively hoping that the disease would not spread further north?
The moment that bluetongue survived the winter months in other parts of mainland Britain, it was clear that it would make its way to Scotland. Why did the Scottish Government not use that time advantage to instigate a programme of vaccination, such as the one that was successfully carried out in the Netherlands, to proactively pre-empt bluetongue’s inevitable spread?
All the statement tells us is what we already knew: vaccination is crucial, south-west Scotland will continue to suffer with restrictions without any support, and bluetongue will likely affect other parts of Scotland. Where is the co-ordinated support package for a mandated vaccine roll-out across Scotland, starting with the south-west as a priority?
Jim Fairlie rose—
It is now clearly—
Minister.
I have to say that I find the tone and the way that some of the questions that come from the Reform MSPs who sit in the chamber to be utterly deplorable. We are talking about people whose livestock are under serious threat, and Jamie Langan has made political comments.
Regarding the movement restrictions that were imposed as the disease took hold in England, it was DEFRA’s decision to bring the border up to Scotland. We were not consulted on that decision—it was done, and we had no way to deal with it.
I decided to ensure that we protected Scotland as long as we possibly could, which was why I met the industry in the early part of the season to talk about the disease’s potential. That approach worked until August. Had we got through the entire season, I do not think that Jamie Langan would have come here and said, “Well done, minister, you made the right decision there.”
However, we are in the position that we are in, so, as I said to Donald MacKinnon, I say to Jamie Langan: encourage your constituents to ensure that they get in front of the disease next year and vaccinate their stock.
I note the minister’s points about vaccine availability to address shortages. However, what action is the Scottish Government taking to ensure that farmers and crofters who wish to vaccinate their livestock are able to do so, particularly in rural and island communities such as those in my Argyll and Bute constituency, where small independent veterinary practices might face additional challenges in securing vaccines?
There is no doubt that that has been an issue. I have heard several times that there has been a shortage of vaccines through this period, but that is because there was a great surge of people looking for them.
The Scottish Government, along with its counterparts across the UK, has met manufacturers and the Veterinary Medicines Directorate to look at ways of replenishing the stocks as quickly as possible. The Veterinary Medicines Directorate has informed the Government that the special import certificate is now in place to allow stocks of the vaccine into the UK from the European Union. That has already allowed for the import of several million doses, and more are expected over the next few days and weeks.
I reiterate that vaccination remains our best long-term defence, and keepers are strongly encouraged to discuss that option with their vets and to place orders so that manufacturers know what the demand will be and can keep ahead of it.
For many farming families, the farm is their home and way of life, and at the heart of that is caring for their animals. The impact of disease understandably reaches far beyond the immediate financial cost and disruption.
A farmer in the Machars recently told me that they felt unsupported in coping with the mental and emotional impact of the bluetongue outbreak. How will the Scottish Government ensure that farmers who are affected by bluetongue can access appropriate mental health support during the outbreak and in its aftermath?
I absolutely do not underestimate the impact that this disease, or any other disease in livestock, has on the keepers. Having spent more than 30 years of my life looking after livestock, I am completely aware of the impact on people when they see the kinds of effects that the bluetongue virus is having.
To answer the question directly, the Scottish Government has put money into the Royal Scottish Agricultural Benevolent Institution—RSABI. There are also other organisations out there who are constantly working with the farming community. Isolation, working alone, working very long hours—all of those issues have to be taken into account, and that is why there is excellent support out there. If anyone is feeling unsupported, those organisations are there to make sure that they get help.
Given the minister’s acknowledgement that vaccination is the only viable long-term strategy against bluetongue, will the Scottish Government consider committing to a fully supported national vaccination programme, including assistance to secure a reliable vaccine supply?
Will that include exploration of the use of student vets to maximise uptake ahead of next year’s risk period, with the clear aim of avoiding area-based movement restrictions, which have brought significant disruption to farmers in rural Dumfries and Galloway?
If the Government is unwilling to support a national vaccination programme, will it at least provide farmers with clear, timely information on low, medium and high-risk areas, so that they can make informed decisions about vaccinating their stock and protecting their businesses?
I genuinely welcome those questions from Finlay Carson.
On the issue of getting information out there, people have to understand that, when a disease is moving, things change rapidly. I understand the point that Finlay Carson is making about ensuring that information gets out there as quickly as possible, and we did that to the greatest degree that we possibly could. I commend my officials, who worked day and night—they were taking phone calls at all times of the day and night—as this situation was progressing.
On the roll-out of the vaccine, as I already said to Ms Minto, there is a lot of work ongoing and to be done to make sure that vaccines are available. However, I take the point about student vets. Let me take that one away and find out whether that capacity is required in order to get the vaccine into animals. We will look at that and see whether anything needs to be done.
I thank the minister for advance sight of his statement.
As we have heard, farmers in the south of Scotland urgently need two things: access to vaccines and absolute clarity on livestock movements. When I speak to Dumfriesshire vet practices, they tell me that, if they have too much or too little vaccine, they are not legally able to share it with other practices. Will the minister ask the veterinary medicines directorate to change that regulation? Will he also meet me and other MSPs for the South Scotland region, where the disease is at risk of becoming endemic, so that we can continue to provide our constituents with clarity on this fast-moving issue, at a time when there are a lot of ram sales and store stocks moving around the area?
It is disappointing to hear that many of our store lambs move north at this time of year. If there are licences around that, we need to give certainty to farmers—otherwise, this may become a more hidden issue and we will have worse problems.
The member brings up a number of points.
On the issue of legally sharing the vaccine, if he will let me take that away to look at, I will come back to him in writing.
In fact, the vast majority of our store lambs go south; more of our store cattle go north. However, I will absolutely meet MSPs from the south-west and, indeed, any part of the country. I have no issue with that.
As far as the movements are concerned, as I said, the restrictions will change on 10 September so that store animals and animals to slaughter will be able to move without licensing. Pregnant animals and breeding bulls will still need a licence and so on, though. However, I will be happy to meet up and talk about the details so that they can be disseminated among constituents.
It is crucial to recognise the stress and alarm caused to farmers and crofters. Will the minister therefore commit to engaging with industry to ensure that the voices of those affected are heard when responding to the issues?
I have to push back on that question slightly, because we have been engaging with the sector from day 1—from as soon as we knew that the virus had reached Scotland. That does not, however, diminish the point that David Torrance is making; it is absolutely essential that we get out there with the information as quickly as we possibly can. In these fast-changing circumstances, though, there can sometimes be a lag.
I reiterate that my officials did a sterling job of making sure that information got out to people as quickly as it possibly could. I absolutely take on board the point that people need to know what is happening.
I thank the minister for his statement and his update on movement restrictions.
The implementation of control zones meant that the livestock holdings of a small number of farmers were divided across different zones, which left them unable to move animals between parts of their holdings. For one of my constituents that was a difficult time, because they thought that they might lose their winter grazing arrangements. Therefore, I am glad that the restrictions are being changed. What engagement will be undertaken with farmers who have smallholdings that might be split across zones, with a view to seeing what can be done in the future?
The lifting of restrictions on 10 September should alleviate the situation that Carol Mochan referred to, which relates to someone who is moving their livestock to a winter holding.
It is a serious point that, if someone’s holding is just inside the restricted zone, the whole holding will be restricted. Unfortunately, that is just a part of the process that farmers have to go through until we come out the other side of this. I completely understand that that is a difficult thing for people to get their heads round, but, in trying to control a disease such as bluetongue, it is essential that we know what movements are taking place and that we try to stop them as much as we can.
Given the existence of midges throughout Scotland, can the minister provide details of what biosecurity measures are available to Scotland’s farmers and crofters?
The biosecurity measures in relation to midges are very limited, because midges fly and we cannot control them. The disease is now circulating in the south-west of Scotland. I reiterate to farmers the point that I have made a number of times, which I will continue to make: vaccinate your animals to protect them against this disease.
Given the impact that a bluetongue outbreak can have on livestock farmers, and also the significant cost of vaccination, what specific financial and practical support will the Scottish Government provide to farmers in the south of Scotland to help them to protect their livestock? Will the minister consider providing assistance towards the cost of vaccination across Scotland?
I completely understand the difficulty in dealing with a disease such as bluetongue. It is a new disease, so we need people to have the right mindset when it comes to managing it.
The Scottish Government already provides the most comprehensive package of support to the livestock sector. We are the only part of the UK in which farmers still receive direct payments, and we will continue to support the farming industry in as many ways as we can.
Making the decision to vaccinate is a commercial decision for a farmer to take, but, as someone who has kept a lot of livestock, I know that I would want to protect that investment. It is entirely up to farmers to ensure that they do that.
I thank the minister for providing sight of the statement.
Bluetongue is widespread in Europe. How are EU countries responding to the disease? What lessons can Scotland learn from the response of other countries with a similar climate about their approach to combating the disease?
Laura Mitchell is absolutely correct. The EU is three years ahead of us, and it has had much longer to understand the best way to manage the disease. It has come to the conclusion that—I have said this before, and I will reiterate the point until the message gets out—the only way to control the disease is through vaccination.
The bluetongue situation is likely to be dire not only for livelihoods in the south-west of Scotland, but—judging by the minister’s statement—those in the Highlands and Islands region, too. I expect that bluetongue could have a severe impact on our crofting community, so we need to get the information out there quickly, as the minister has said. What work is the Government undertaking to support the crofting community proactively, for example through public information, veterinary advice and a support scheme?
The Government is communicating with people in numerous ways, but let us be clear: anyone who is a livestock farmer in Scotland will know that bluetongue is circulating. We provide regular updates on social media and on our website, and we are in regular contact with the livestock auction centres. In addition, we disseminate information through NFU Scotland and the Scottish Crofting Federation.
We are getting as much information out there as timeously as we can, but people have a responsibility to pay attention to it and to ensure that they know about the situation that we are in. To them, I say: if you want to protect your stock next year, make sure that you get prepared through vaccination.
Has the Scottish Government conducted any modelling on the potential projected impacts of the disease on Scotland’s sheep and cattle industry?
That modelling has been done. We definitely know that the modelling tells us that the only way to protect the livestock is through vaccination. If we are talking about the modelling of livestock movements, we know that the vast majority of cattle in the south are going to the north-east for fattening, and we know that the vast majority of store lambs are going south. Therefore, we know where the livestock is going. That tells us that there is every likelihood that, next year, the disease will spread to other parts of the country, so I ask farmers and crofters to make sure that their stock is vaccinated.
I spent the weekend at the Benty show in my constituency, where, understandably, there was no livestock. Local farmers in Dumfriesshire are clearly anxious and are unsure when local vets will have sufficient vaccine supply. They know that the process could be costly, with one Langholm hill farmer telling me that the cost of vaccinating her flock could be close to £20,000—money that is not readily available.
Given that my constituents are paying a heavy price to provide the circuit breaker that might or might not be successful in stopping the virus spreading in Scotland, how will the minister ensure that adequate vaccine supply can be assured for the south-west? How will he determine how financial support can be made available to farmers who were already struggling before the worrying outbreak of bluetongue in the south-west?
We are not just looking to make sure that vaccine is available for the south-west; we are looking to make sure that vaccine is available across the whole country, because, as I have said many times already, the likelihood is that the disease will spread. That is why work has gone on with countries in the rest of the UK to ensure that we are getting vaccine diverted into Scotland just now.
On support, I reiterate what I have said before. We have the most comprehensive package of support anywhere in the UK, and we will continue to support our farmers and crofters.
That concludes the ministerial statement on the response to the detection of Bluetooth—[Laughter.] That slip has been made before. I mean the statement on the response to the detection of bluetongue virus serotype 3 in the south-west of Scotland.
The rest of this Official Report will be published progressively as soon as the text is available.
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