Bluetongue Virus outbreak is here to stay
Pastor Dale Morgan
Bluetongue Virus outbreak is here to stay*
By Duncan Hooper
Last Updated: 5:01pm BST 28/09/2007
Farmers have been officially warned that the Bluetongue virus is
"circulating" in Britain, as Defra dismissed any hopes that previous
instances of the disease might have just been isolated cases.
The virus was discovered in this country for the first time on a Suffolk
farm last week. Its arrival horrified farmers because of the disease's
potential to cause massive fatalities among the livestock it infects -
in some cases mortality rates can reach 70 per cent.
Bluetongue cannot be contained
Since then the Department for the Environment Food and Rural Affairs has
confirmed that at least four more animals have been infected.
The disease, which normally infects sheep but can affect other hoofed
animals, has horrible symptoms, starting with ulcers of the mouth, nose
and eyes. The infection then spreads, causing swelling to the head,
lameness, and internal bleeding. Breathing difficulties and death can
follow.
Equally worrying for farmers is the near impossibility of containing the
outbreak because the virus is spread by airborne midges and, as yet,
there is no vaccine.
Fred Landeg, the deputy chief veterinary officer, said: "We can now
confirm that we do have bluetongue virus circulating in this country.
"We are early on in the outbreak and our objective is to try and contain
the disease to that part of the country where we have these concerned
cases."
Five cases have been confirmed in Suffolk in the past week. A 12.5-mile
control zone and a 93-mile protection zone have been set up around the
cases, with restrictions preventing animals being moved out of those areas.
Dr Landeg said it was too early to say if the disease, which has killed
thousands of animals in northern Europe, was now endemic in the UK.
He said there was a chance that a long, cold winter could stamp out the
disease but, based on the experience in Europe, it could return.
A vaccine for the disease is being developed, he said, though culling of
animals is not an effective way of controlling its spread.
But he was keen to point out that humans are not at risk, adding: "There
are no human health implications from this disease - this disease does
not pose any risk to any human health from meat or milk products."