UK Farmers Warned of Bluetongue Risk as French Outbreaks Continue

Farmers in the UK are being urged to monitor their stock carefully following the ongoing presence of Bluetongue Disease in France.

The advice to report any clinical signs of disease immediately comes as the latest risk assessment from the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) published today reveals the UK is at risk of an outbreak during the spring or summer months, with an outbreak in late summer rated the most likely.

This would be the result of infected midges being blown across from France to the South East of England.

The risk of an incursion in the UK is highly dependent on the level of disease on the continent, the proximity to the UK of cases in the rest of Europe and the weather, including temperature and wind direction. 

Restriction zones are already in place in France to control the spread of the disease, and if Bluetongue were to be found circulating in the UK, similar measures such as movement restrictions would be put in place - click here to read more.

Six new outbreaks of the disease were reported in France recently, in the Puy-de-Dôme region.

The infected cattle were identified through analytical surveillance, as part of France's Bluetongue response efforts - read more.

In other disease news, bovine TB research has received a £7 million boost with the announcement of newly-funded projects looking at control and eradication of the disease - read more.