As lambing begins across the UK, there have been reports of further suspected cases of Schmallenberg virus. Livestock producers have also expressed frustration over the time it takes for results to confirm incidences of the virus; there have so far been 11 confirmed cases in the UK, all on sheep farms in the South-East.

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Defra has not updated its figures since 31st January, when it was reported that the virus had been confirmed in 11 UK herds as well as the first incidence in a calf in the Netherlands. Sheep flocks in North-Eastern France have also been affected.

Defra has said that, as the disease is newly discovered, having first been identified in Germany last summer, testing for Schmallenberg takes time. However, farmers are keen to know whether the virus is responsible for the large number of losses reported as lambing season gets underway and, if SBV is not to blame, what is.

There have been reports in East Anglia of ewes giving birth to one dead lamb with congenital abnormalities and another healthy lamb, where neither the surviving lamb nor mother tests positive for SBV infection, which has led animal health experts to say it is difficult to build up an accurate picture of infection.

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