UK expands Bluetongue Protection Zone again

UK's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has announced that the present Bluetongue Protection Zone will be extended again on Monday 14 July, following the delivery by Intervet of over 2 million additional doses of Bluetongue vaccine. 

The department declared South West England as a Bluetongue Protection Zone June 9, meaning that farmers in the area would be allowed to vaccinate their cattle against Bluetongue. 

The Protection Zone will now be extended to cover the District of Selby, the Unitary Authority of York, West Yorkshire , Derbyshire, Staffordshire and West Midlands.

The additional vaccine is available for use in the existing Protection Zone. Livestock keepers in the areas coming into the Protection Zone will be able to obtain the vaccine from Monday. However, they are encouraged to order vaccine so that they can protect their livestock at the earliest opportunity.

Protection Zone restrictions will apply to those keepers coming into the extended zone. Animals can only be moved out of the Protection Zone if they are vaccinated, naturally immune or moving for slaughter, subject to meeting certain conditions.

The UK reported the first of the current series of Bluetongue cases in September 23 last year. Since then, cases have sprung up sporadically despite the government setting up a control zone which allowed livestock farmers to vaccinate their cattle to prevent the disease.