The UK's Chief Veterinary Officer has urged farmers to remain vigilant for bluetongue virus. There has been a recent increase in confirmed BTV-3 cases in the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium with some animals showing severe clinical signs.
Farmers are reminded that free testing is now available for animals moving from the highest risk counties to live elsewhere in Great Britain or to be sold at a market within a high-risk county where there will be buyers from outside the high-risk counties. This will help guard against animal movements potentially transporting undetected disease to new areas. The high-risk counties are Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Kent and East Sussex.
Last November, APHA and The Pirbright Institute identified the first case of the disease in Great Britain through the annual bluetongue surveillance programme.
Bluetongue virus is primarily transmitted by midge bites and affects cattle, goats, sheep and camelids such as llamas. The impacts on susceptible animals can vary greatly - some show no clinical signs or effects at all while for others it can cause productivity issues such as reduced milk yield, while in the most severe cases can be fatal for infected animals. Bluetongue does not affect human health or food safety.
The virus can also be spread through germplasm (semen, ova, and embryos) as well as transmitted from mother to unborn offspring.
Current situation
There are currently no live cases of bluetongue virus and no evidence that there is circulating bluetongue virus in England. However, given the increase in temperature, there is now an increased risk and bluetongue transmission is possible.
Biting midge activity increases with the warmer weather, and there remains a very high probability of a new introduction of bluetongue virus serotype 3 (BTV-3) into livestock in Great Britain in 2024 through infected biting midges being blown over from northern Europe, where a number of cases have now been detected.
Farms close to the coast in counties along the east coast of England from Norfolk to Kent and along the south coast from Kent to Devon are at highest risk of incursion.
Biting midges are most active between April and November and the timing of a potential incursion will depend on the temperature and wind patterns. There is an active surveillance programme running, which involves the trapping of midges across the country and working with partners such as the Met Office to monitor the likely spread of the virus based on temperature and wind patterns.
Farmers should continue to monitor their animals frequently for clinical signs and make sure their animals and land are registered with APHA so we can locate animals in the event of an outbreak.
Surveillance of susceptible animals and epidemiological assessments will continue. We will keep the situation under review.
