There would not be an outright ban on Irish cattle exports in the event of a bluetongue outbreak in Ireland, deputy chief veterinary officer at the Department of Agriculture Dr Eoin Ryan has said.

However, he said that there would be increased costs and conditions imposed on cattle for export under EU law if a case were to occur.

Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal, he said that in order to be exported Irish cattle may have to meet certain animal health criteria.

For example, they might have to undergo quarantine periods or blood testing to show they have tested negative for bluetongue or be vaccinated, he said. If any of these additional measures were to apply, they would impose extra costs and complexities on farmers and exporters, he added.

“Any of these additional measures would be more costly and be trickier logistically,” he said.

He said that it is suspected that the entry point of the case in Northern Ireland was that infected midges were blown across from Wales or England.

Given the time of the year, at the moment the disease will not spread on the island via midges as it is too cold.

“It spreads quite quickly in hot weather. If it’s 25°C or 30°C it can replicate quite quickly in the midge population,” he said.

Once temperatures are about 12°C it can spread via midges, but at this temperature it is at a much slower rate, he added.

“Right now, it’s not warm enough for it to spread. If bluetongue is established on the island, once we get into warmer weather it will be more of a challenge to prevent the spread,” he warned.

Vaccination

Vaccination against bluetongue is currently not permitted in Ireland and vaccination would not prevent livestock getting the disease.

Dr Ryan said that the Department is actively engaging with companies which make vaccines and that vaccination is “under review”.

What happens if there is an outbreak in Ireland?

If there is an outbreak of bluetongue in Ireland, the first step will be to eradicate it, Dr Ryan said.

“We’ll put in place a 20km restriction zone around the outbreak and there will be movement controls for cattle, sheep and goats.

“A 150km enhanced surveillance zone will be put in place as well. There will be no movement controls here,” he said. He added that any marts in a 20km restricted zone would not be allowed to hold sales.

“In the early stages of an outbreak just the infected animals will be culled,” Dr Ryan said, to try and contain the outbreak.

However, he said if the virus was to spread nationwide, widespread culling would not be required to stem the spread of the disease as it would be circulating in the midge population.

If bluetongue was to occur in the cattle or sheep population, compensation at market rates would be available to farmers who would be ordered to cull infected animals.