Bluetongue zone extends to Welsh border

DEFRA has extended the bluetongue protection and surveillance zones following the confirmation of disease on four premises in the south east and East Anglia on Friday (8 February).

The latest cases bring the UK total to 74 since 28 September and were detected by pre-movement testing as required during the vector- free period.

The four cases in East Sussex, Kent, Cambridgeshire and Middlesex have minimal affect on the protection zone, but mean the surveillance zone has been extended westwards towards Somerset in the south west and almost to the Welsh border in the West.

A single case found in the surveillance zone has required the establishment of a separate protection zone in North and West London and into Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire (see map below).

National Sheep Association chief executive Peter Morris said the latest cases were an endorsement of the current strategy.

“What this shoes is that the current policy is the right one; it’s a hard one, but it’s the right one.”