Questionnaire survey about the motives of commercial livestock farmers and hobby holders to vaccinate their animals against Bluetongue virus serotype 8 in 2008-2009 in the Netherlands.

After a massive epidemic of Bluetongue virus serotype 8 (BTV-8) among ruminants in 2006-2007 in the European Union (EU), the Netherlands started a voluntary emergency vaccination campaign in May 2008, subsidized by the EU. At the start of a new campaign in 2009, without subsidized vaccination, we investigated by mail survey the motives of farmers and hobby holders to vaccinate against BTV-8 in 2008 and 2009. Mean vaccine uptake in 2008 was: 73% in sheep, 71% in cattle, 43% in goat farms and 67% in hobby holdings. Top-5 motives pro-vaccination were: prevention of production loss; subsidized vaccination; recommendation by practitioner; welfare reasons; contribution to the eradication campaign. Top-5 motives against vaccination were: vaccination costs; absence of clinical BT-problems; presumed low infection risk; balance between vaccination costs and loss without vaccination; bad experience with earlier vaccination campaigns. Willingness to vaccinate was significantly lower in 2009: 42% in sheep, 58% in cattle, 19% in goat farms and 49% in hobby holdings. Measures to stimulate vaccination among those that did not want to vaccinate in 2009 were: subsidized vaccination; possibility to vaccinate their own animals; more information on efficacy/safety of vaccine and why animals had to be vaccinated again; availability of a BT vaccine combined with vaccine(s) against other diseases.