Schmallenberg Virus detected in Cornwall
The presence of the Schmallenberg Virus (SBV) has been confirmed on a sheep farm in Cornwall, marking the first time the disease has been detected outside the east and south east of England. The discovery has raised fears amongst the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and the Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency (AHVLA) that the south west and southern Wales could have been affected en masse during the autumn.
The most recent figures from AHVLA have confirmed the detection of 52 cases in UK territory, three of which were in cattle and 49 of which were in sheep. The list of counties in which cases have been confirmed now constitutes Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Kent, West Sussex, East Sussex, Surrey, Hertfordshire, Hampshire and Cornwall. The list of areas deemed to be at risk now includes Dorset, Devon, Somerset, Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, and South Wales.
That SBV has suddenly appeared in an area not previously believed to be at risk has forced a re-evaluation of hypotheses on the method of transmission. Information which recently came to light has revealed that much of France was infected last year, including many areas close to the English Channel. It is therefore possible that infected midges have been carrying the virus across the entire Channel instead of only from those areas in Northern Europe.
“Due to the increase in reports of SBV identified in France, the areas at comparatively higher risk in the UK have been revised in line with the plume modeling data from the summer which models areas at risk of midge incursion from northern Europe,” said an AHVLA spokesperson.
“The timing of the most dense plumes would have been in late October for this south west region. This is therefore in line with the appearance of deformities in lambs being born now, assuming the highest risk period for lambs is if the mother is infected at approximately one month into gestation.”
Defra has published guidance for the vet sector ahead of a proposed UK-EU Sanitary and Phytosanitary agreement.
