Foot and Mouth Disease & Bluetongue information

BLUETONGUE LATEST INFORMATION - CLICK HERE

VACCINE ORDERED - 19 DECEMBER 2007 - CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS

About Bluetongue...

Bluetongue is a disease of animals affecting all ruminants, including sheep, cattle, deer, goats and camelids (camels, llamas, alpacas, guanaco and vicuña). It does not affect horses. Although sheep are most severely affected, cattle are the main mammalian reservoir of the virus and are very important in the epidemiology of the disease. It is characterised by changes to the mucous linings of the mouth and nose and the coronary band of the foot. The disease is caused by a virus spread by certain types of biting midges. Bluetongue is present when it is confirmed by laboratory tests that the Bluetongue virus (BTV) is circulating in an area. Bluetongue does not affect humans.

History and spread of the disease

Bluetongue was first described in South Africa but has since been recognised in most countries in the tropics and sub-tropics. (For details of countries where Bluetongue is present see details from OIE website. Since 1999 there have been widespread outbreaks of Bluetongue in Greece, Italy, Corsica (France) and the Balearic Islands (Spain). Cases also occurred in Europe in Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Kosovo and Yugoslavia. Serotypes 2, 4, 9 and 16 have been involved. These cases have been well north and west of its normal distribution. It appears that the virus has spread from both Turkey and North Africa.

Bluetongue is caused by a virus within the Orbivirus genus of the family Reorvirades. At present 24 distinct serotypes have been identified as a result of serum neutralisation tests.

The virus is transmitted by a small number of species of biting midges of the genus Culicoides. Bluetongue virus cannot naturally be transmitted directly between animals. Virus transmission between animals occurs via these midges. However, the likelihood of mechanical transmission of the virus between herds/flocks and within a herd/flock by unhygienic practices (e.g. use of contaminated surgical equipment or hypodermic needles) cannot be excluded.

When a midge bites an infected animal, the virus passes to the midge in the blood meal and the virus multiples in the midge. The cycle of replication of the virus in the insect vector and in the ruminant host, results in amplification of the amount of BTV available to uninfected naive hosts and vectors.

Peak populations of vector Culicoides occur in the late summer and autumn and therefore this is the time when Bluetongue is most commonly seen.

The NRSF encourages all keepers of North Ronaldsay sheep to register FREE OF CHARGE on the RBST Breeds At Risk Register. This could save your sheep in the event of contiguous culling in the event of disease outbreak near you.

CLICK HERE FOR INFORMATION AND REGISTRATION

FOOT & MOUTH LATEST INFORMATION - CLICK HERE

About Foot and Mouth...

Foot and mouth disease is an infectious disease affecting cloven-hoofed animals, in particular cattle, sheep, pigs, goats and deer. Other ruminants including deer and some zoo animals, camelids (camels, llamas, alpacas, guanaco and vicuña) and elephants can also be affected. The disease is serious for animal health and for the economics of the livestock industry. While FMD is not normally fatal to adult animals, it is debilitating and causes significant loss of productivity; for example milk yields may drop or the animals may become lame. In young animals it can be fatal on a large scale.

In sheep, the chief symptom is a sudden, severe lameness, affecting one or more legs. The animal looks sick, lies down frequently and is very unwilling to rise. Usually, the disease affects all four feet, and when the animal is made to rise, it stands in a half-crouching position, with the hind legs brought well forward, and seems afraid to move. Mouth symptoms are not often noticeable. There are blisters on the feet at the top of the hoof, where the horn joins the skin in the cleft of the foot. They may extend all round the coronet, and when they burst the horn is separated from the tissues underneath, and the hair round the hoof is damp. Unless complicated by foot rot, the foot is clean and there is no offensive smell. Blisters in the mouth, when they do develop, form on the dental pad and sometimes the tongue.

Established 1997