News

The British Veterinary Association (BVA) is highlighting vets’ fears about antibiotic resistance as a new survey reveals that 9 in 10 (92%) vets across the UK are worried about their ability to treat infections in pets in the face of this global threat.

The British Veterinary Association (BVA) has welcomed findings from the UK Veterinary Antibiotic Resistance and Sales Surveillance (VARSS) Report 2020 and the RUMA Targets Task Force 2 Report, launched yesterday (8 November) by the Veterinary Medicines Directorate and the Responsible Use of Medicines in Agriculture Alliance (RUMA), respectively.

There are estimated to be about 8-10,000 outbreaks of sheep scab in the UK every year with many flocks infested persistently in areas of high scab prevalence. Scab costs the UK sheep industry between £80- £200 million per year (Nixon et al., 2020). With some populations of sheep scab mites in the UK now known to be resistant to the injectable macrocyclic lactones (Sturgess, Osborne et al., 2019), it is imperative that the sheep industry makes a concerted effort to bring this disease under control.

The British Veterinary Association has called for much clearer commitments to animal welfare in international trade after the UK Government set out its response to the Trade and Agriculture Commission (TAC) report.

Do you farm sheep in England, Wales, or Scotland?

We invite all GB sheep farmers to participate in the SHEEP SCAB SURVEY 2021 whether or not you have experienced sheep scab in your flock before.

Small Ruminant Quarterly emerging threats report For April – June 2021 from APHA

The British Veterinary Association (BVA) has written to the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) to raise concerns over the regulator’s decision to extend measures permitting vets to prescribe prescription-only medicines without first having physically examined the animal.

AWF’s 2022 student grant scheme is now open for applications

From learning to design and execute a research study from start to finish, to travelling abroad and meeting experts in the field of animal welfare, undertaking a student research project can be really rewarding and beneficial to your studies and future careers.

Please be advised that this year’s application window for the MSD Animal Health Veterinary Surgeon Bursaries will close on 30^th  November 2021.  MSD Animal Health can award up to two bursaries of up to £4000 each towards a ruminant research project relevant to any of the following subject areas: 

The NFU has launched some new livestock and poultry welfare in transport guidance which is now available on their nfuonline site: Protecting your animals in transit (nfuonline.com).

Rebecca Mearns became the new President of the Sheep Veterinary Society during the Autumn Conference held 20 to 22 September 2021 held in Cheltenham.

James Russell today (23rd September 2021) concluded his year as British Veterinary Association (BVA) President with a final Presidential Address at BVA’s virtual Officers Handover and Awards event. As well as welcoming his successors in his speech, he also thanked BVA staff, volunteers and members for their hard work and support during a year full of “unprecedented change, challenges and uncertainty.”