Farmers and animal health experts have called on the Welsh Government to fund a new programme which aims to stop sheep scab, a disease which has serious economic implications.
The report advocates the need for a more co-ordinated effort from sheep scab infected farms, which it says could bring Wales one step closer to controlling the disease.
Sheep scab is caused bites living in the fleece of sheep and feeding on the skin, and can have a highly debilitating and even deadly effect on flocks.
Infected animals suffer from rapid weight loss, infections caused by persistent scratching of the skin, and if pregnant ewes get it, it can result in weaker, smaller lambs.
All of this is distressing for the animal and farmer, and can have serious economic implications for the UK.
The new report, created by Welsh farming unions and sheep industry representatives and veterinary experts, identified a "more holistic approach" is necessary in stopping the disease.
It argues that if neighbouring infected premises worked together to implement a scab control programme it would be easier to deal with outbreaks and could even mean no more sheep scab in Wales.
Measures farmers should work together on include ensuring that no sheep are left out on the hills when attempting to treat for scab, keeping sheep off infected land or out of infected housing for 17 days to prevent reinfection and practising good quarantine procedures.
The collaborators have now submitted the report for consideration by the Wales Animal Health and Welfare Framework Group.
They are now calling for the Welsh Government to provide the multi-million pound funding needed to kick-start its recommendations.
Dr Neil Paton, Lecturer in Farm Animal Health and Production at the Royal Veterinary College (RVC), said: “Sheep scab is an insidious problem and has significant welfare implications for infected sheep. It is therefore highly important that sheep scab eradication is funded in Wales.”
Members of Welsh sheep scab group are: John Griffiths, Agriculture Resource Centre manager at Coleg Sir Gar Gelli Aur, Dr Hazel Wright, Senior Policy Officer at the Farmers’ Union of Wales, Dafydd Jarrett, Policy Advisor at NFU Cymru, Helen Roberts, Secretary of the National Sheep Association in Wales, and Moss Jones of Farm Assured Welsh Livestock.
