The British government is planning the killing of more healthy livestock. The disease in question this time, Bluetongue in sheep, is transmitted by flying insects that are thought to have crossed the waters from Europe although they may also have been brought in by shipping.
UK bluetongue is northern European strain
The strain of bluetongue virus detected in a British cow is the same as that found recently in northern Europe, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said today. Serotype 8 has been found in Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands since August 2006.
The virus, which cannot be transmitted from animal to animal only through midge bites, affects ruminants including sheep, cows, deer and goats but has not so far posed a threat to humans.
Bluetongue has been discovered for the first time in the UK in one cow at Baylham House Rare Breeds Farm, in Baylham, and will not be considered an outbreak unless further investigation demonstrates the virus is circulating. Officials are today testing midges to establish the extent of the infection.
The Government’s deputy chief veterinary officer, Fred Landeg, said all the other animals on the Suffolk farm will also be tested for evidence of the bluetongue virus. If the disease is shown to have spread, a 20 kilometre control zone will be placed around the farm banning the movement of livestock in or out of the area.
The disease, carried by midges, has been gradually spreading north from the Mediterranean. Signs of infection are high fever and swelling of the face and tongue, which takes on a blue appearance. It can be fatal to livestock, but farmers also fear the economic consequences of quarantine zones and restrictions on animal movements that may follow if the disease is found to be spreading.
In the past year cases of bluetongue have been found in Holland, Belgium, Germany and Luxembourg and traffic through the ferry port of Harwich will come under suspicion.
In Holland the government banned all export of live sheep, cattle and goats. Farmers within a 170km exclusion zone were ordered to spray insecticide on their land.
Yesterday Mr Landeg said contingency plans had been drawn up after bluetongue was found for the first time last year in northern Europe, leading to serious outbreaks in France, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium.
“We knew that there was the possibility that infected midges could possibly be blown across the sea to areas like Kent and East Anglia,” the deputy chief veterinary officer said. He warned that the effects of the disease could be particularly devastating for sheep. “In certain cases it can be very serious in the sheep industry and cause quite high mortality, sometimes up to 70 per cent.”
Defra [British Department for Eradication of Farming, Rural life and Animals - similar to the USDA in the United States. -WJ]had said it considered there was a low but increased risk of spread to the UK from the affected areas of northern Europe. There was a low likelihood of the virus being introduced to the UK through legal trade in susceptible livestock from known affected areas (imports from bluetongue restricted zones are not permitted), or which went through restricted zones.
The likelihood of wind-borne infected insects reaching the UK was said to be difficult to predict but the chancewould increase if the wind direction was from the affected areas.
David Abbey, 73, owner of 250 sheep at New Barns Farm, in Harlow, Essex, said: “This could be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. It is another piece of very bad news for farmers.”
Geoffrey Copas, who part owns Copas Farms in Cookham Dean, Berkshire, said: “I have been aware of its spread through Europe, and feared it was only a matter of time. “The real problem lies in the restriction of movement following a case of bluetongue. An outbreak will cause huge financial burden.”
:
The Government is considering the culling of millions of sheep trapped on hills by the livestock movement ban imposed after the recent foot and mouth outbreaks. That could mean a return of the pyres of cremated animals seen in the 2001 outbreak.
-Times Online UK
The livestock aren’t the problem, the disease carried by the insects is the problem. Killing farmer’s healthy livestock is not the solution. Why are government officials unable to make the logical leap of thought that what we need to do is protect our livestocks, our small farmers and our rural lifestyle. Destroying the thing we need to protect is highly counter productive - but it’s the government way. By killing off small farmers they can help their Big Ag corporate masters gain that last 15% market share and monopoly control over our food supply.
Hat tip to Sally.