The island of Ireland is on high alert for bluetongue after two cases of the disease were confirmed on Wednesday, and 44 more cases are being investigated.
Northern Ireland’s Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) has ramped up its bluetongue surveillance testing of livestock around a farm in Bangor, Co Down, where two cows tested positive.
The two cows were not imported and DAERA maintains that “at this stage it is too early to tell how the virus entered Northern Ireland”.
The 44 suspect cases are from the same farm and follow-up testing is needed before infection can be confirmed or ruled out.
Bluetongue is spread by biting midges which have been recently identified as active in the locality of the Bangor farm, Northern Ireland’s Minister for Agriculture Andrew Muir said.
All live cattle and sheep exports from Northern Ireland to Britain have been halted, except for cattle and sheep destined for immediate slaughter in the Republic of Ireland, with 48 hours’ notice.
Live exports
The discovery of a case south of the border would not lead to an outright ban on live exports, but livestock destined for export may incur blood testing costs and be subject to quarantine requirements, the Department of Agriculture’s deputy chief veterinary officer Dr Eoin Ryan said.
He said that current temperatures are “not warm enough” for midges to spread the disease.
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