As Bluetongue Spreads Across Europe, The UK Is At ‘Medium’ Risk

(CTN News) – As of the latest Defra assessment, it is estimated that the chances of bluetongue disease making an entry into the UK are “medium”, as Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands have all reported cases of the BTV-3 strain of the virus during the past month.

Since 2009, there has been an increase in the number of bluetongue cases in the Netherlands, the first time that bluetongue has been reported in the Netherlands since 2009.

As a result of Belgium and the Netherlands losing their status as BTV-free countries, China has imposed a ban on the importation of beef and lamb from Belgium and the Netherlands as a result of the loss of this status.

As of the end of November, the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (KNAW) had recorded a total of 1,402 clinically positive cases of the virus, as well as 2,728 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests that confirmed that it was present in the system.

We continue to monitor the situation in mainland Europe, and the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs have confirmed that the movement of live sheep and cattle from the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany to Britain has been halted as a result of the outbreak.

Defra’s disease outbreak assessment indicates that, given that most of the reported outbreaks are situated near the Dutch coast, if the weather conditions are such that wind-borne infected midges will be blown over the North Sea, there is a possibility that wind-borne infected midges could be blown across the North Sea if the weather conditions are suitable for this to occur.

Because of this, I believe that there is a high probability that an incursion of the BTV disease is likely to occur in the southern and eastern counties of England as a result of Dutch transmission.

A vaccine has not yet been approved by the government for the BTV-3 strain of the virus, so we don’t know if a vaccine will be able to prevent infection with the virus at this point in time.

Additionally, it has been reported that the BTV-8 strain of the virus has been associated with more than 600 outbreaks of the virus in France as a result of this strain.

What type of virus is bluetongue?

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