Bluetongue Imports Warning

WALES - Farmers are reminded to consider carefully whether it is essential to their businesses to import animals from bluetongue-infected areas of Europe.
calendar icon 30 December 2008
clock icon 1 minute read

The call by Wales Chief Vet Christianne Glossop follows the decision by the French government to declare the whole country a Protection Zone for bluetongue strain 1 – BTV1 – in addition to strain 8 of the disease, reports Wales Online.

“Farmers need to think very carefully about whether they really need to import an animal from bluetongue infected areas in view of the associated risk of bringing infection into Wales,” said Ms Glossop.

“There is currently no vaccine available for strain 1 authorised for use in Great Britain and farmers are reminded that they are putting their own and their neighbours’ livestock at risk if they import from bluetongue 1-affected areas.”

A BTV8 protection zone was declared in Wales earlier this year to allow all farmers in all parts of the country to protect their livestock from infection by the midge-borne virus using supplies of vaccine secured by the Welsh Assembly Government.

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