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Sheep scab research awarded £1.2m grant
“Maintaining two effective control methods is essential for our ability to control scab in the future” – Lesley Stubbings.
Project to look at development and spread of treatment resistance.

Researchers have been awarded a £1.2m grant to tackle resistance to sheep scab treatments.

The three-year project will look at how resistance to macrocyclic lactone (ML) injectables developed in the sheep scab mite Psoroptes ovis and how it has spread across the UK.

The researchers aim to be able to provide updated advice and guidelines on how to manage sheep scab and develop new diagnostic tools to track the spread of resistance.

The grant has been awarded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council to researchers based at the Moredun Research Institute, the University of Glasgow, Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC), and the Sustainable Control of Parasites in Sheep (SCOPS) group.

Although organophosphate (OP) sheep dips can be used as an alternative to ML injectables, they involve more complex safety requirements. There are also concerns that if they are overused it could lead to the scab mites developing resistance to OP.

Lesley Stubbings, technical consultant at SCOPS, explained: “Maintaining two effective control methods is essential for our ability to control scab in the future.

“Understanding the basis of resistance in the MLs, together with the potential for early detection, will allow the industry to develop strategies to manage and slow resistance.”

Sheep scab currently costs the UK sheep industry between £80-200 million each year.

Stew Burgess, researcher at the Moredun Research Institute and project lead, said: “Sheep scab remains a significant threat to livestock health and welfare, imposing substantial economic burdens on farmers across the UK.

“With this funding, we aim to decode the genetic basis of resistance and its spread, providing the agricultural community with vital tools and updated strategies to manage this pervasive issue effectively.”

Image © Shutterstock

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Practices urged to audit neutering data

News Story 1
 RCVS Knowledge has called on vet practices to audit their post-operative neutering outcomes.

It follows the release of the 2024 NASAN benchmarking report, which collates data from neutering procedures performed on dogs, cats and rabbits.

The benchmarking report enables practices in the UK and Ireland to compare their post-operative outcomes to the national average. This includes the rate of patients lost to follow-up, which in 2024 increased to 23 per cent.

Anyone from the practice can submit the data using a free template. The deadline for next report is February 2026.

Visit the RCVS Knowledge website to complete an audit. 

Click here for more...
News Shorts
RCVS pays tribute to well-loved equine vet

The RCVS and the Riding Establishments Subcommittee has paid tribute to well-loved veterinary surgeon and riding establishment inspector, Rebecca Hamilton-Fletcher MRCVS.

Linda Belton MRCVS, RCVS President, said: "I, along with my colleagues on the RESC, RCVS Council, RCVS Standards Committee, as well as RCVS staff, was very saddened to hear of the sudden death of Rebecca, or Becca as we knew her, last week.

"She was a true advocate for equine welfare and in her many years on the RESC worked to continually improve the quality and consistency of riding establishment inspections, all in the interests of enhanced horse welfare and rider safety."