At the request of the industry, the Scottish Government are providing financial support to the sheep industry to develop an OPA disease control programme and this pilot is now in its second year. The pilot has been developed by the industry-led Scottish OPA working group and it aims to increase the number of veterinary practitioners with proven expertise in recognising signs of OPA in live sheep through ultrasound scanning in the absence of any better diagnostic test.
One of the farmers recruited to the project hosts the YouTube channel ‘The Sheep Game’ and has made a video about OPA scanning while their vet was out scanning: WE HAVE OPA! (youtube.com). There is also a video about scanning produced by Moredun: Research in a Nutshell - OPA Control (youtube.com).
Sheep keepers will benefit through earlier diagnosis and interventions allowing for affected animals to be culled and removed from flocks at an earlier stage. Compensation payments are being made to farmers for the removal of animals which will be used for the collection of tissue samples for definitive diagnosis to validate the ultrasound scanning technique and for future studies such as development of a new live diagnostic test.
If you know of any farms that would be interested in being involved in the pilot project there are still some limited spaces available. If you are willing to participate in this pilot and have your flock scanned for OPA please contact Chris Cousens at the MRI (chris.cousens@moredun.ac.uk).