Farmers in high-risk counties for bluetongue can now apply for free testing for ruminants (cattle, sheep, deer, goats) or camelids (alpacas, llamas) in some circumstances.
The free tests are available for farmers who plan to move animals out of the high-risk counties to live, or are selling them at a market within a high-risk county where there will be buyers from outside the high-risk counties.
The high-risk counties are Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Kent and East Sussex.
When it comes to testing young animals, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said farmers should speak to their private vet to decide whether to test certain animals.
These are lambs and kids younger than three months or that are not yet weaned, and calves younger than seven days at the time of sampling.
Other lambs, kids and calves should be sampled and tested in the same way as adult animals.
The mother of these animals should be tested before the move or the market, the department said, even if you do not intend to move her. The young should be kept with their mother until test results have been obtained.
Farmers are urged to apply for free testing at least 10 working days before the planned movement or market date.
The vet should sample animals five working days before the move or market to allow time to get results.
Bluetongue
The UK’s chief veterinary officer has urged farmers to remain vigilant for bluetongue virus.
Last November, the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) and the Pirbright Institute identified the first case of the disease in Great Britain through the annual bluetongue surveillance programme.
There are currently no live cases of bluetongue virus and no evidence that there is circulating bluetongue virus.
However, the seasonal low vector period is over. This is because biting midge activity increased with the warmer Spring weather.
Therefore, 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.
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.
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.
