Following cases of the insect-borne bluetongue virus, which is carried by Culicoides midges and affects domestic and wild ruminants, being found in cattle as far north as the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany (EurActiv 21/08/07), 'Debbie', a cow showing clinical symptoms of bluetongue, registered as positive for the bluetongue virus in laboratory tests - the first case ever reported in the UK.
Environmental conditions play a major role in the occurrence and persistence of this midge-transmitted disease. It does not affect humans and there is no risk of the disease being contracted or spread through meat or milk. Bluetongue has frequently been reported in southern Europe and, in 2006 and 2007, serious epidemics of a different strain of bluetongue (BTV8) also occurred in central and northern Europe, with more than 12,000 outbreaks recorded in 2007 (in Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Luxembourg and Germany).
British authorities are said to be "taking necessary measures", with any movement of cattle to or from the affected holding area prohibited.
The UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) confirmed that the virus had been found in a cow on the Baylham House Rare Breeds farm in Suffolk, and that it was the same 'Serotype 8' bluetongue strain found in Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands over the past 12 months.
But Defra would not confirm the case as an "outbreak" until an investigation established that the disease was circulating, a process that the agency said "could take weeks".
"The premises where bluetongue was detected remain under restrictions and epidemiological investigations are being carried out to assess the situation," Defra said in a statement.
The timing could not have been worse for British farmers, who are already struggling to contain a further outbreak of foot and mouth disease, with seven cases reported since the beginning of August, a development that has brought about the reinstatement of the EU ban on British meat exports, lifted just three weeks previously. (See EurActiv 13/08/07).
