Archived News

8th February 2008

Bluetongue Protection Zone extended - Manor Farm in zone

We know that Bluetongue disease will re-emerge with avengeance this summer, however through pre-movement testing, further confirmed cases of Bluetongue have been found over the winter which was to be expected.

There are two zones for this disease, the Protection Zone (PZ), which is an area 20km radius of each confirmed case and an outer Surveillance Zone (SZ).

If farmers inside the Surveillence Zone (SZ) wish to move their cattle or sheep out of the SZ they must get a vet to do a pre-movement test for Bluetongue and it's through these tests that further cases have been discovered, with 75 confirmed cases to date. One new case today in the SZ has meant that a new Protection Zone has been established around a farm north west of London.

More significantly for us today are two confirmed cases in the existing Protection Zone.   These two cases have extended the PZ further west into Surrey and Cambridgeshire.  The PZ border had been over Banstead way, but today it has pushed west and now includes Dorking, Guildford and Farnham.

So here we are, without a doubt, right inside the Protection Zone. Yesterday we were fully in the SZ and today we are completely in the PZ.

Movement restrictions do apply but not in the same way as Foot and Mouth because bluetonge cannot be passed from animal to animal, it is spread by midges.

Thankfully for us the farm has not been split between the zones, all our livestock are within the PZ now which means they can be moved between any of our fields as necessary, however we cannot move cattle or sheep out of the PZ unless to slaughter.

Problems would arise if we we wanted to sell an in-calf heifer, because the animal could only be sold to a farmer also within the PZ.

Bluetongue is a nasty disease which has already had a devastating effect on farms in other European countries.  Bluetongue is a disease of ruminants, it does not affect horses or pigs and although sheep are most severely affected, cattle are the main reservoir of the virus.

Bluetongue does not affect humans.