THE bluetongue protection zone now covers virtually the whole of England and Wales, after it was extended to include Northumberland and Cumbria yesterday.
Vaccination in the two most northerly counties of England is likely to commence shortly, but Scotland has still to decide when such a policy will be initiated north of the Border.
However, there are growing fears bluetongue (BT) could be lurking u
ndiscovered anywhere in Europe or Great Britain, and the only reliable form of combating the disease is vaccination of all cattle, sheep and goats as soon as possible, according to the National Beef Association (NBA).
That message comes in the wake of confirmation from the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) that eight out of a batch of 20 bulling heifers imported by an agent into Devon have tested positive for BT.
Frank Momber, vice-chairman of the NBA, said: "These animals were sourced from an area in Germany which has still to report circulating BT virus in 2008, but scientists in the UK are also increasingly concerned that the disease is already moving inside Great Britain.
"If importers must bring in stock, they should not accept word-of-mouth affirmation from suppliers that the animals carry no BT risk and should protect their reputations, and their own cattle, by insisting on a vaccination certificate that has been signed by a vet."
The veterinary authorities in France have declared that BT is now endemic, but farmers on this side of the Channel are clearly alarmed that the disease has not been picked up in Germany, and particularly in the region in which the imported heifers originated, and that farmers have not reported any suspicious symptoms.
Momber said: "The first of last year's cases of BT was not confirmed in Great Britain until late September, and there is a huge danger that many livestock farmers have been lulled into complacency and delayed vaccination because new disease has still to be reported here in 2008.
"This news from Defra is a massive wake-up call. Farmers who want to protect unvaccinated animals should begin injecting at once."
Meanwhile, Ron Wilson, the secretary of the Border Union Agricultural Society, announced that the annual Kelso ram sales will go ahead as planned on Friday, 12 September. There had been fears that the event would have to be split between Kelso and Hexham over two days, but that will not now happen.
Wilson said: "We have a total entry of 5,505 rams and we know that around 1,000 rams from England are currently in Scotland on a 'bed and breakfast' basis to satisfy the BT regulations. In addition, we will have 250 vaccinated rams on offer."
