Second case of bluetongue confirmed in North Yorkshire as outbreak escalates

A second case of bluetongue virus has been confirmed in North Yorkshire amid an escalating national outbreak.

Since July 1 there have been 493 cases of BTV-3 bluetongue cases across Great Britain, with 473 cases in England, 15 in Wales, and five in Scotland.

Devon and Cornwall has been worst hit so far by the outbreak which is spread by midges.

The first case of the disease in Yorkshire was confirmed at premises in the East Riding a few weeks ago.

However a massive surge in cases appears to have overwhelmed The Pirbright Institute, currently the only laboratory for processing statutory samples and 2,401 suspected cases remain under investigation.

Chief Executive at the National Sheep Association Phil Stocker said some unconfirmed cases would be in Yorkshire and the North of England. He urged farmers to get their sheep vaccinated before breeding and store animal sales start.

Stocks were now short, but several million doses of vaccine were due to arrive in the next week or so.

He told The Yorkshire Post it was "by far the worst bluetongue outbreak” they’d had, and they were only part way through the infectious season.

He said: “There will be a lot of farmers in Yorkshire that are producing breeding animals that get sold to farmers in other parts of the country, and those farmers are very nervous about bringing in stock that aren’t protected.”

There’d been a low uptake of vaccine, but then the problem, which has been circulating for the past two years and has had outbreaks in Holland, Belgium and Germany, “suddenly exploded”, adding: "It has caught a lot of people out.”

He said for farmers the biggest problem was dealing with sick or dead stock. Sick animals may not be able to walk and would need water brought to them, and long term the concern was that they may not be able to breed again.

The virus does not affect people or food safety.