Under a new scheme to tackle Scrapie* in sheep, all farmers who report and have a confirmed case of the disease in their flock will, from today, have to cull the whole flock or blood test the flock to determine its genetic profile.

Wales’ Minister for Environment, Planning and Countryside Carwyn Jones, announced the scheme today as enforcement of the EU regulation requiring Member States to take action on sheep flocks and goat herds that report scrapie.

Mr Jones said: "It is vital to the rural economy that the sheep sector remains competitive. We can go some way to achieving that competitive edge by doing all we can to eliminate scrapie from our Welsh flocks.

"The new scheme has been developed in consultation with Welsh farmers. It applies to all farmers who report and have confirmed a case of scrapie, including members of the Voluntary Scrapie Flocks Scheme and cases identified by surveys of adult fallen stock and adult sheep at slaughter.

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Source: New Wales
November 1, 2004

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