Intervet vaccine: Govt expands Bluetongue protection zone

Following the delivery of additional Bluetongue vaccines manufactured by Intervet, the government is to expand the protection zone to allow more extensive vaccination to take place.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has announced that although the surveillance zone is unchanged, the protection area will expand to include Lincolnshire, Berkshire and Oxfordshire.

It reiterated calls for farmers to order the Intervet vaccine to ensure their cattle will be protected as soon as possible.

Defra asserted that Bluetongue has not spread beyond the existing protection zone boundaries.

“This supports our vaccination strategy which has been devised to tackle the most at-risk areas first, gradually expanding the protection zone westward as more vaccine becomes available,” it added.

Intervet is supplying the UK with 22.5 million doses of the vaccine and has been “working intensely” to ensure supplies are ready to fight the potential onslaught of the disease in the summer months.

The animal health firm has worked on a vaccine since the virus first emerged in northern Europe in 2006.