Bluetongue outbreak is confirmed

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Deputy Chief Veterinary Officer Fred Landeg said the disease was now circulating in the UK, with tests indicating the virus was present in animal and midge populations.

Dr Landeg said: "We are early on in the outbreak and our objective is to try and contain the disease to that part of the country where we have these confirmed cases."

But he acknowledged movement controls and the deaths of some infected animals could cost the farming industry tens of millions of pounds.

A fifth case of the disease was confirmed in a cow near Burstall in Suffolk on Thursday, close to the rare breeds farm in Baylham, near Ipswich, where the disease was first confirmed on September 21.

A 12.5-mile (20km) control zone and a 93-mile (150km) protection zone have been set up around the confirmed bluetongue cases.

Affected animals cannot be moved out of the control zone, except for slaughter, or out of the protection zone. But livestock can be moved within each of the zones.

Dr Landeg said it was too early to say if the disease, which has killed thousands of animals in Northern Europe, was now endemic in the UK.

He said there was a chance that a long, cold winter could stamp out the disease but it was likely the UK would see a significant number of new cases this autumn.

There is currently no vaccination for this strain of the virus, although one is being developed, and culling of animals is not an effective way of controlling the disease because it is transmitted by biting insects.