Schmallenberg disease hitting lambs and calves spreads to all England and Wales
A disease that can lead to lambs and calves being stillborn or deformed has spread to every county in England and Wales. Some farmers are expected to lose livestock during the lambing season, which is just getting underway.
Schmallenberg virus was first detected in the UK earlier this year in the south and east of England. It has spread rapidly during the summer, probably through midges, say government scientists.
“We've seen quite rapid geographic spread,” the government's Chief Veterinary Officer, Nigel Gibbens, told the BBC.
“That means a lot of herds and flocks will have been exposed to the disease. The likelihood is that many of them won't show disease because they weren't infected at the right time to show disease.
”Some will - in those herds and flocks we expect an impact of 2-5% of their lambs and calves.“
Schmallenberg causes severe deformities in lambs and calves born to infected mothers, but adults usually recover quickly. Cases have been documented on 976 farms in England and Wales, compared with 276 in August.
However, officials believe the true number of cases is higher. The first sign is often when livestock give birth to deformed or dead young - which can be months after the infection has occurred.
In areas where the disease has been found, the number of infected flocks and herds is likely to be ”very high“, said Mr Gibbens.
Alasdair Cook, head of endemic food-borne zoo-noses at the Animal Health Veterinary Laboratories Agencies, said farmers should be vigilant for signs of infection, particularly when livestock are giving birth.
”The infection has been transmitted through the whole of England and Wales, effectively, up to the Scottish borders,” he said.
The new emerging livestock disease was identified late last year, near the German town of Schmallenberg. It has since been detected in Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK.
It is believed the virus was carried to England by midges blown across the Channel and was then spread by native midges during the summer.
Evidence from Europe suggests that around 6% of infected sheep flocks (and 4% of infected cattle herds) will suffer symptoms from the disease, which is only dangerous when it is passed to the unborn lamb or calf. Flocks that are infected should expect to lose between 2% and 5% of lambs.
There is a low likelihood of any risk to public health, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. A vaccine is being developed, which if proved safe and effective, could be available in the UK in time for next year's lambing season, said Mr Gibbens. (BBC).
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As for the latter part I have some basic knowledge of bio-security in research facilities and the difficulty of controlling materials (virus, bacterium etc) that you can't easily detect, this means it is not unsurprising that these things eventually happen. The book Normal Accidents by Charles Perrow is a brilliant one for highlighting the fallibility of systems that we assume safe because they are shrouded in the authority of technology and science which created them.
The export of live sheep and cattle to Turkey, Jordan and at one time Libia from here is a fact of life
On another tack the present slaughter policy by Defra in case of FMD is just crazy. I remember well the stink of burning carcasses in Cumbria. Nobody ever died from FMD withthe exception of some of my colleagues in Uk who commited suicide. Why the hell dont you just vaccinate against the disease.We do and we get pretty good prices for the beef and lamb on the international markets
The problem is similar to a supposed outbreak of smallpox, now eliminated world wide. If it comes back, compulsory euthanasia for the victims and thier families and the crematoriums would be busy
Sorry to be so negative in this season of goodwill and humanity, but I think Defra policy is wrong. They should address the diseases transmitable to humans like leptosirosis and hydatic cyst, prevalent in some sheepdogs, paticularly in Wales
As far as human health, bird flu or pig flu did not exist until recently, due to close working conditions and repeated exposure to these viruses by poultry and pig farm workers, the virus mutated something viruses are prone to do and in the case of pig flu at least became human to human transferable.
As for the massive overkill in the 2001 outbreak, it was due to government not taking the outbreak seriously or instigating the correct preventative measures quickly followed by a massive over reaction due to poor assumptions with regards to how rapidly and far the disease could spread.
As for vaccination, a vaccination only lasts for a certain number of months not years, and only protects against one form of the disease which (common cold for instance) are prone to continual mutation meaning it is by no means a safe guard. Secondly countries designated FMD-free without vaccination have the greatest access to export markets.
With regards to research stations I stand by my last point in that bio-security when dealing with viruses and bacterium is highly difficult and 'leaks' are ultimately inevitable. The problem is as a society we have been lulled into a sense of security that we shouldn't have when it comes to our belief in our ability to handle these things safely.
I agree you cant vaccinate against FMD with one vaccination.We do it twice a year and any out of season calves have to be injected at four months of age and its very strictly controlled. Yes I have some reservations as they have eliminated the virus C from the vaccine. Look you the attitude of Defra and the Farmers Union in Uk is just kill anything which is a threat. The controversy about badgers and bovine TB. Instead of murdering them why not just catch them up and give them the Stain 19 vaccination,? Probably there is a more advanced vaccine today. The ones that escape vaccination are going to die of TB anyway and so the remainder is a healthy stock and no threat to the cattle stock. Impossible? No it aint. The repatriation of the hedgehog population from the Hebrides because as an invasive species they were seriously damaging the ecology of those islands is a success story. So Defra needs to think differently
The proliferation of urban foxes is also worrying. It just needs one to get infected with rabies and you will have a major problem in UK
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