Latest information on Bluetongue controls
| This news story was last substantively updated on 23 November 2007. For later information please seeour Bluetongue website pages. |
Since 22 September, Bluetongue has been confirmed in a number of animals on several different premises in South East England.
Movement controls apply in the Bluetongue Protection and Surveillance Zones. Certain livestock movements are licensed but the movement types and conditions vary from area to area. It is important to know which controls apply to avoid spreading disease.
On 1 November Defra announced it is to issue a tender for a Bluetongue vaccine bank. No suitable vaccine is currently available for the strain of Bluetongue circulating in England (serotype 8). However several companies have vaccines in development and these are expected to be available from next summer. Discussions about this are currently underway with the industry.
Defra has published the first epidemiology report into the Bluetongue outbreak, based on the situation up to 19 October. The report concluded that the infection was likely to have been initially introduced into Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex on the night of 4/5 August by windborne transmission of infected midges from continental Europe.
Surveillance and testing are ongoing to gain an understanding of the geographical extent of the Bluetongue infection and to determine disease prevalence within herds and flocks.
Further information
- For more information, including the latest figures on the number of Bluetongue cases and information on movements and licenses, visit the Bluetongue pages on this website.
Page last modified: 23 November 2007 18:30
Page published: 6 November 2007