Scottish farmer tells of feeling devastated after BSE case found in herd

A farmer in Scotland has spoken about the devastating effect of learning that a case of BSE had been found among his herd.

Thomas Jackson’s farm in Lumsden, Aberdeenshire, has been put under quarantine after a five-year-old cow that died was found to have bovine spongiform encephalopathy.

Three other cows of a similar age and a calf are to be put down as a precautionary measure after animal health experts launched an investigation. It is the first BSE case in Scotland for 10 years, and the first in the UK since 2015.

In a statement issued through the National Farmers Union Scotland, Jackson said: “This has been a very difficult time for myself and my wife and we have found the situation personally devastating.

“We have built up our closed herd over many years and have always taken great pride in doing all the correct things. To find through the surveillance system in place that one of our cows has BSE has been heartbreaking.

“Since this has happened we have been fully cooperating with all the parties involved and will continue to do so as we, like everyone, want to move forward and clear up this matter.”

Sheila Voas, Scotland’s chief vet, said it could be some months before tests find out how the BSE was transmitted. It was possible for BSE to occur spontaneously, she told BBC Radio Scotland.

The number of detected BSE cases across the UK decreased from 37 in 2008 to zero in 2016. Very strict controls were introduced to prevent cattle brains, spinal tissues and other tissues from getting into the food chain after the BSE epidemic in the 1990s during which millions of cattle were culled.

“The animal itself is dead, she died before she was tested, and there are three other animals, possibly four, on the farm that will need to be slaughtered purely as a precautionary basis,” Voas said.

“We’ll slaughter them, take brain stem samples and and check them.” She said about 20,000 cows that died over the age of four were checked in Scotland each year as part of the precautionary surveillance programme for BSE.

Voas added: “All the information we have is this is under control, there’s no reason for people to panic. It’s not the start of an outbreak, it’s a single isolated case that won’t affect the food chain.”