Climate change has all kinds of consequences for our countryside. And one of them is an increase in the illnesses found in livestock, especially from insect-borne viruses.
So when farmer Ian Duncan Millar found seven sheep dead on his Perthshire farm, he immediately suspected a virus was to blame. By the next day, another five had died – and he ended up losing more than 70 of his flock within a fortnight.
Tests confirmed tick-borne louping-ill virus (Liv) was the cause. The outbreak wasn’t just emotionally devastating. It cost Ian around £25,000.
“It’s big figures” Ian says. “But the biggest worry for me is the sheep, it’s a welfare issue,” he explained.
“A growing concern” for sheep farmers.
The National Farmers Union (NFU) Scotland describes Liv as a growing concern. Because as our weather gets warmer and wetter, the chances of ticks spreading this type of disease are increasing. Ian has been farming for 50 years and believes there are more instances of Liv than at any stage in his lifetime.
In the case of Liv, the virus is transmitted by sheep ticks and outbreaks in the UK are most common from spring to autumn when tick activity peaks. Symptoms of the virus include muscle tremors, incoordination, hypermetria, and, as Ian discovered, sudden death.
In sheep, the mortality rate is up to 50%. But horses, cattle, dogs and even humans can also be affected.
Despite that, there’s currently no vaccine available to beat it.
No longer just a UK problem
Although Liv used to be regarded exclusively as a problem in the British Isles and Ireland, it’s now known to have occurred on mainland Europe – in Norway, Denmark and Spain. But in 2017, the only commercial vaccine available was withdrawn.
This means farmers like Ian are now forced to treat their sheep against ticks with a pour on pesticide. Ian is concerned about the unknown impact of this on the environment and would rather have a vaccine and rely on his sheep’s immune system than chemicals.
Funding a new vaccine
The good news is a next generation vaccine is being developed by the Moredun International Research Institute, a charity largely funded by the Scottish government that specialises in livestock health. It’s been welcomed by livestock farmers, vets and the moorland industry and has already proven to be highly effective in field trials.
However, bringing a vaccine to market is expensive. So Moredun is trying to crowd-fund the £720,000 they need to complete Phase 1 of the project. The Scottish government has also stepped in and agreed to match up to £100,000 of the funds raised.
“I cannot over-stress how important a vaccine is, how much better would it be,” Ian said. “A vaccine makes so much sense. It would be useful in the whole of the UK. We can use science for the benefit of farming.”
If you’d like to support the development of the vaccine you can do so here. Remember every £1 you give will be matched by the Scottish government!
