Further Bluetongue outbreak ‘threatens UK’

Britain could be hit by a potentially “devastating” bout of Bluetongue, scientists have warned.

Professor Peter Mertens, from the Institute for Animal Health at Pirbright, made his comments to local newspaper the Lincolnshire Echo.

The publication reports that it is likely virus-carrying insects will soon arrive in Britain and bring another potential bout of sickness to the nation’s sheep and cows.

Professor Mertens commented: “The second year of an outbreak is dramatically worse – up to 1,000 times worse.”

In order to combat any potential future outbreak of the Bluetongue virus, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has ordered 22.5 million doses of the Bluetongue serotype 8 (BTV-8) vaccine from Intervet.

Of these, 20 million will be used in England and 2.5 million in Wales.

However, Defra acknowledged that it is difficult to adequately predict the future scope of the virus and where it is likely to be found.