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As I write this article parts of Southern England are in the grip of yet another serious animal disease and suspect cases have been seen in Essex so here is some concise information about the subject. The new epidemic this time it is Bluetongue, sometimes called Dancing Disease as affected animals are in such pain from their sore feet that they appear to dance about.

This disease was first discovered in South Africa but has since been found in most countries in the tropics and sub-tropics. Since August 2006, the virus has been found in the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany and northern France. There have also been outbreaks of different strains of the disease in Greece, Italy, Corsica and the Balearic Islands since 1998 and cases have also occurred in Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia and Yugoslavia, this however is the first outbreak of the disease in the UK.

Bluetongue is a disease caused by a virus, it affects ruminants such as cattle, goats, deer and sheep. It is spread by a species of midge and would therefore be most commonly seen in the late summer and autumn in the UK. It spreads in a similar way to myxomatosis in wild rabbits, after a midge bites an infected animal, the midge passes the infection on by biting an uninfected animal. Luckily the virus will not affect humans or animals other that ruminants although we may well ourselves be bitten by a midge carrying the virus.

Signs of the disease in can vary, but you might see a high fever, excessive salivation, swelling of the head and neck, lameness and sometimes discolouration of the tongue. Unlike foot and mouth it has a high mortality rate, according to the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), in some susceptible breeds of sheep up to 70% of a flock can die from the virus. The good thing about this disease is that it will not spread directly from animal to animal like Foot and Mouth however studies have found that normally a midge can travel for up to a mile a day. In certain weather conditions midges can be carried much further, especially over water, up 125 miles may be possible. The disease is thought to have come from Belgium or Holland by the midges being carried in the wind.

Because Bluetongue is spread by insects Defra is presently saying that compulsory slaughter of infected livestock will not normally be carried out as it was during the Foot and Mouth outbreaks because the disease cannot be passed from animal to animal and it would not help stamp it out. However farmers will be hard hit because a 22.5 miles control zone has been put in place around affected premises. Ruminant animals can move within the zone, but not out of it except to slaughter in a wider 93 miles protection zone. Farmers within the 93 mile protection zone which covers parts of counties from Lincolnshire to Sussex cannot transport livestock beyond the zone boundaries. There is no vaccine available at present.

When we get a cold spell the midges will die out and so the disease will halt but the experience in other countries is that outbreaks will occur again the following year as the insects become active again. I cannot help wondering if the appearance of Bluetongue in this country is in some way related to global warming.