Blue Tongue

[Duncan MacIntyre]

Clip from my latest email from Animal Health

"Laboratory tests have detected the presence of Bluetongue in one cow on a premises near Ipswich, Suffolk. Bluetongue is a very different infection to Foot and Mouth Disease and the strategy to control it is therefore also different. This is not a confirmed outbreak unless further investigation demonstrates that disease is circulating."

I don't know any more yet, just seems even more complications to add to the general misery. I have always expected we would hear of it some time in sheep rather than cattle, not at all sure that I would spot it in cattle.

Duncan

[Inger]

I have heard that it is tested for in Australia. Perhaps an Australian breeder could give you more information? I know that the NZ MAF require any animal from Australia to be tested for the desease, before it can be imported.

[Sylvia]

Blue Tongue was given as a reason why I could not import Pygmy goats from the USA in the late '70s/early '80s. So it would seem they have managed to live with it long-term. It is also found in Europe. I don't recall hearing about any stringent methods to keep it there.

But I'll hazard a guess that if it does show to be circulating it will have more devastating effects for the British farming industry.

[Saffy]

Isn't that what the kids get when they have one of those bright blue slushies that look radioactive? :D

OK probably not very amusing at the moment.

Stephanie

[Woodmagic]

I have been waiting for a contribution from somebody with actual experience of Blue tongue. I have read the blurb put out by the Australian authorities, as I understand it, they do not feel a slaughter policy of value, since the midges that spread the disease cannot be controlled - other than by praying for the right weather conditions. I expect our government will use it as an excuse to kill still more animals, despite the fact the midge has probably flown and infected others long before the deed.

[Broomcroft]

I'm with you Saffy - With BSE, TB, FMD, Bluetongue and everything else around, what else can you do except laugh? :D :D. If you don't laugh the only farm you'll end up in is the funny farm. I think I'm already there actually.

[Kathy Millar]

Blue tongue is certainly in the USA and Canada used to have fairly stringent regulations for importations but the big guys in the Canadian cattle industry have forced the Canadian government to relax the regulations so now the Canadian sheep industry has been put at risk. It is now only a matter of time but it is nothing like F & M in terms of slaughtering infected animals. In fact, I understand the Americans don't have a big problem with it in cattle as it isn't as damaging as it is in sheep. Having said that, I don't know of any American sheep producers that have been impacted by it.

[wagra dexters]

Last weekend there was a report that Bluetongue had been detected near Ipswich, Qld. There has been no further mention anywhere, so I wonder if they botched it up , and it was actually Ipswich, England.
Bluetongue has never been an issue here, but we are in the southern high country, where bluetongues are large lizards that we try not to kill on the roads.
I hope your winter will kill off all the insect culprits.

[happy hollidays]

Has anybody heard what the winter weather is going to be like? A good drop of cold weather would be good to clear up a few germs perhaps.

[oliver1921]

I certaintly haven't heard about any winter weather forcast - if it came from any government body would you believe it!

[Woodmagic]

Scotland has the coldest weather in the British Isles, parts of it are notorious for midges, and they must over winter there, so why will a cold winter here give us respite from Blue tongue? Any answers Duncan? I understand our midges can become vectors.

[Broomcroft]

The Met Office outlook for the remainder of Autumn (till end of Nov) is warmer than usual for the time of year, but cooler than last year.

[Duncan MacIntyre]

Parts of Scotland are very mild, here on Bute we get very little frost, snow almost never lies for 24hours, and palm trees grow on the sea front. Colder weather will stop midges flying, but last winter most of the time they were active here. However as far as I can understand although our species of midges can probably transmit Blue Tongue, they are not as efficient at it as the southern ones, and the efficiency of transmission goes down as the temperature drops. This happens with the other species of midge as well, so any cold spell will produce a drop in the chances of transmission. East Anglia will frequently have colder temperatures than Cornwall or West Scotland, so there is hope that although some animals have been infected they will not transmit it to others during the colder spells. What I am uncertain of is how long a sheep or cow which has been infected remains infected, and how long they can infect midges.

One of my worries is that although midges cannot generally move huge distances, infected animals certainly can and that it is stock movements which will transport the disease accross the UK more rapidly than insects.

As far as I know vaccine production is being developed, one of the difficulties being the different strains, and the fact that the virus can alter, and use of vaccine may produce new strains in infected animals. All quite complicated, but hopefully we will have a vaccine soon enough to be of some use.

Duncan

[Farrant]

Midges can be carried large distances on winds, so that is also a serious concern. Incidentally I have just submitted an article on Bluetongue to the Dexter South East Group editor ...2 days before the case in Suffolk was reported...it is all very worrying...

[Woodmagic]

This morning’s report from Belgium made depressing hearing. It is now endemic there and the sheep farmers are generally of the opinion that unless a successful; vaccine is forthcoming next year they will give up on sheep. Their advice after their own experience is that it isn’t worth trying to prevent the invasion.
The last attack in this country is 50 miles from the first.