December 21, 2007

UK discovers bluetongue in imported cows

The British Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has discovered bluetongue virus in 20 cows imported from the Netherlands.

Farmers immediately called for an import ban on livestock from bluetongue areas in Europe after the disease was discovered in the herd on a farm near Worcester.

The case, which is inside the current bluetongue surveillance zone that covers much of England, is the second incident of the disease found in imported animals in a week.

The virus was detected by Defra's routine post-import testing and controls have been set up around the farm. The cows had been imported from a bluetongue protection zone in the Netherlands.

While evidence are yet to be gathered that the disease is present in the area, the animals will be culled to prevent the local midge population being infected.

Last week, a cow imported from a disease protection zone in Lower Saxony, Germany, was found to have the disease in Middlesbrough, outside the existing protection and surveillance zone.

The National Farmers' Union said imports from restricted areas should be banned to help the livestock industry control the disease until a vaccine could be manufactured.

A spokesman said that this is the second time in a week that bluetongue-infected animals are imported and that a swift action should be made to prevent the disease from spreading.