Bluetongue Restriction Expanded to all of Scotland from Oct 3rd

The Bluetongue Restricted Zone currently covering parts of south-west Scotland will be extended to cover the whole of Scotland from Saturday 3 October, following agreement with industry.

The change means the movement licences currently required to move susceptible livestock, such as cattle, sheep and other ruminants, into, within and out of the South West Scotland zone will no longer be necessary, as the whole of Scotland will share the same disease status. This is expected to make trading considerably more straightforward for farmers, hauliers and auction markets ahead of the busy autumn trading period.

Some bluetongue related conditions will remain in place, such as animals should not be moved when displaying clinical signs of the disease. The decision follows agreement with key industry representatives, including the National Farmers Union Scotland, National Sheep Association, Scottish Beef Association, the Institute of Auctioneers and Appraisers Scotland and Quality Meat Scotland, that extending the zone was now the right approach. 

A joint Scottish Government and industry communications group is also being established to promote vaccination and to share advice on the impacts of the disease with farmers and veterinary practitioners.

Since the South West Scotland Restricted Zone was established, the disease has been detected on 40 premises. Four of these cases were detected outside of the zone by tracing animal movements from affected farms. All affected farms are under movement restrictions and cooler temperatures mean that there is lower opportunity for onward disease transmission.

Please continue to refer to Scottish Government’s latest updates page to ensure you have the most up-to-date information Bluetongue Restricted Zone extended to cover all of Scotland – gov.scot