UK vets urged to contribute to new biobank in fight against resistant sheep scab mites

The Moredun Research Institute calls on veterinarians across the UK to submit positive skin scrapings to a new biobank aimed at tracking macrocyclic lactone resistance and understanding how resistant mites are spreading in sheep populations.

The Moredun Research Institute is urging vets to submit positive sheep scab skin scrapes for a new biobank intended to track macrocyclic lactone resistance and map how resistant mites are spreading across the UK. The institute says the disease remains a major welfare and production problem, with government guidance describing it as a notifiable condition in Scotland and a parasite spread chiefly by direct contact, but also via fences, posts, equipment and clothing.

Sheep scab can cause severe itching, weight loss and secondary infection, and official guidance says symptoms may progress to extreme sensitivity and depression in affected animals. According to APHA and Moredun, diagnosis should be confirmed before treatment because other parasites can mimic the disease and misdiagnosis risks ineffective use of medicines. The options are limited to diazinon plunge dipping and injectable macrocyclic lactones, but resistance to the injectables is now confirmed in the UK and may be increasing. Moredun says its blood test can detect exposure from about two weeks after infestation and can help assess flock status, while the new biobank will accept all positive skin scrape samples, ideally with treatment history and location data.