Bluetongue is a disease caused by infection with bluetongue virus. Chief Veterinary Officer for Wales Richard Irvine offers expert advice on how to spot signs of bluetongue, which animals it affects and how to report it. <\/p>
Bluetongue is a viral disease affecting ruminants<\/a> such as sheep, cattle and deer, . It is transmitted by biting midges, and causes swelling, lameness and fever. <\/strong><\/p> Though not harmful to humans, it impacts livestock health and farming in the UK. Outbreaks are monitored to prevent spread and economic loss.<\/p> Richard Irvine, Wales\u2019 Chief Veterinary Officer explains how to spot signs of bluetongue, how to report it in sheep<\/a>, cattle<\/a> and other livestock<\/a>, and the best ways to help prevent it.<\/p> Bluetongue is caused by a virus that is primarily transmitted by certain species of biting midges.\u00a0<\/p> Bluetongue affects ruminants, such as cattle, goats<\/a>, sheep and deer<\/a>. It also affects camelids, such as alpacas<\/a> and llamas.\u00a0<\/p> Bluetongue does not affect people or food safety.<\/p> The impacts on susceptible animals can vary greatly \u2013 some show few clinical signs, for others it can cause productivity issues such as reduced milk<\/a> yield or reproductive losses, while the most severe cases can be fatal for infected animals.<\/p> Bluetongue is a notifiable disease and suspect cases must be reported immediately to the Animal and Plant Health Agency<\/a> (APHA).<\/p> Your local APHA office should be contacted immediately on 0300 303 8268\u00a0if you suspect bluetongue in your animals. APHA vets will investigate suspected cases.<\/p> Further information on the clinical signs of bluetongue and action to be taken can be found here<\/a>.<\/p> Farmers can help prevent the disease by:<\/p> Keepers considering bringing in animals or biological products, for example germinal products, from BTV disease control zones or other affected countries should consult their vet to check whether this is permitted, and what risks are associated with this action. This should always be done before deciding to move or import animals.<\/p> All businesses should have a contingency plan, including their response to disease outbreaks on their premises and their inclusion in a disease control zone. Contingency plans should include details of where animals are normally slaughtered to check that abattoir is designated.<\/p> Further information and resources on the current bluetongue situation are also available on the\u00a0Ruminant Health and Welfare website<\/a>.<\/p> More information about farming<\/strong><\/p> Bluetongue is a disease caused by infection with bluetongue virus. Chief Veterinary Officer for Wales Richard Irvine offers expert advice on how to spot signs of bluetongue, which animals it affects and how to report it. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":40065,"template":"","categories":[1,27],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"2"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2024\/09\/bluetongue-what-the-notifiable-disease-is-which-animals-get-it-symptoms-and-how-to-report-it.jpg",2091,1434,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2024\/09\/bluetongue-what-the-notifiable-disease-is-which-animals-get-it-symptoms-and-how-to-report-it-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2024\/09\/bluetongue-what-the-notifiable-disease-is-which-animals-get-it-symptoms-and-how-to-report-it-300x206.jpg",300,206,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2024\/09\/bluetongue-what-the-notifiable-disease-is-which-animals-get-it-symptoms-and-how-to-report-it-768x527.jpg",768,527,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2024\/09\/bluetongue-what-the-notifiable-disease-is-which-animals-get-it-symptoms-and-how-to-report-it-1024x702.jpg",800,548,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2024\/09\/bluetongue-what-the-notifiable-disease-is-which-animals-get-it-symptoms-and-how-to-report-it-1536x1053.jpg",1536,1053,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2024\/09\/bluetongue-what-the-notifiable-disease-is-which-animals-get-it-symptoms-and-how-to-report-it-2048x1405.jpg",2048,1405,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Bluetongue is a disease caused by infection with bluetongue virus. Chief Veterinary Officer for Wales Richard Irvine offers expert advice on how to spot signs of bluetongue, which animals it affects and how to report it.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/40064"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40065"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40064"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40064"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}What is bluetongue disease?<\/h2>
Which animals are affected by bluetongue?<\/h2>
Is bluetongue dangerous to people?<\/h2>
Signs of bluetonge<\/h2>
How to report bluetongue<\/h2>
Ways to help prevent bluetongue<\/h2>
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