February 25, 2003

Two cases of bovine brucellosis have been confirmed in a Scottish beef herd. The cases were found in imported animals from the Republic of Ireland (ROI). This is the first case of the disease to be identified on the United Kingdom mainland (Great Britain) since an October 1993 outbreak linked to imports of cattle from France, according to a USDA report.

According to the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs and the Scottish Executive, the outbreak of bovine brucellosis was confirmed following the abortion of a fetus on a mixed beef and sheep farm in the Forfar area of Angus, Scotland. The herd had been under movement restrictions following notification at the end of December that there had been a brucellosis breakdown in the herd of origin in the ROI.

A total of 36 heifers born in early 2000 are understood to have been exported to Scotland from this origin herd in Roscommon, ROI in May and June of 2002,, the USDA report said. In accordance with current surveillance procedures in Great Britain, the animals were blood tested on arrival and at 60 days after being imported.

The animals all tested negative for brucellosis between July and September of 2002. All the animals have been traced to five farms in Scotland where they and their close contacts have been placed under movement restrictions and kept isolated from other cattle in their respective herds.

For more information, the entire report is available on the Internet at http://www.fas.usda.gov/gainfiles/200302/145884766.pdf.