Vaccine developed for farm disease

20 May 2013 Last updated at 19:08 ET By Helen Briggs BBC News

A vaccine to protect sheep and cattle from a virus spread by midges has been approved by government vets.

The virus, which emerged in the Netherlands and Germany in 2011, can lead to sheep and cattle having stillborn or deformed offspring.

The disease has spread to every county in England and Wales, and was recently reported in Scotland.

Schmallenberg virus (SBV) causes fever, diarrhoea and loss of milk production in adult cattle.

The first SBV vaccine, developed by the animal health company Merck MSD, is expected to be available to UK farmers in the summer.

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?Start Quote

It is welcome news for British farmers to have the choice to vaccinate their animals. ?

End Quote Alick Simmons Deputy chief veterinary officer, Defra

The vaccine is of most use before sheep and cattle become pregnant, as exposure to the virus during pregnancy can cause birth defects in the unborn animal.

Alick Simmons, deputy chief veterinary officer at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said in a statement:

"It is welcome news for British farmers to have the choice to vaccinate their animals.

"The vaccine will give extra assurance against this disease on top of the natural immunity we expect sheep and cattle to develop after initial exposure."

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Schmallenberg virus

• Discovered in the German town of Schmallenberg in November 2011
• Spread rapidly to many European countries, including the Netherlands, Belgium, France and the UK
• Thought to be spread by infected midges
• SBV causes relatively mild illness in adult cattle and sheep, but where infection takes place during the early stages of pregnancy it can result in congenital disorders of lambs and calves, and stillbirths
• One of a class of emerging viruses spread by insects (arboviruses)
• The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control suggests that there is a low likelihood of any risk to public health

NFU livestock board chairman and sheep farmer, Charles Sercombe, lost 40% of his early lambing flock to the virus.

He said the vaccine would give added reassurance to farmers who were concerned about losing lambs to the disease.

"Everybody in farming who wants to use it will welcome it as soon as possible," he told BBC News.

"Some flocks need it in the next few weeks to fit in with their breeding programmes."

Reports from farmers suggest that at least 1,700 farms throughout the UK have now tested positive for the SBV virus.

UK farmers will be the first in the EU with access to the vaccine, according to Defra.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22596562#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa

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