The number of confirmed cases of Schmallenberg virus in the UK has risen to 52, the AHVLA has revealed. In its last update on SBV, released on Friday, the AHVLA stated that the virus had been identified in samples from 49 sheep farms and three cattle farms.

The authority also announced that the ‘at risk’ area has been extended to include areas further west of the original boundaries, due to increasing reports of SBV affecting farms in France, which has led to a change in modeling data from the summer, altering the areas where infected midges are likely to have penetrated from Northern Europe.

The affected farms are in of Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hertfordshire, Surrey, Hampshire and Cornwall, though AHVLA said the ‘at risk’ area had been extended to include Dorset, Devon, Cornwall, Somerset, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire and that the possibility of a risk to South Wales has not been ruled out.

An AHVLA spokesperson said, “The timing of the most dense plumes [of modelling data] would have been in late October for this south west region. This is therefore in line with the appearance of deformities in lambs being born now, assuming the highest risk period for lambs is if the mother is infected at approximately one month into gestation.”

European veterinary and research organisations have scrambled to cope with the disease, offering testing and sharing knowledge of the virus, which has been provisionally named Schmallenberg Virus after the German town where it was first identified last year. The majority of cases affect sheep, though they show no signs of infection, but the disease can affect other ruminants. SBV causes congenital abnormalities in lambs if the mother is infected during pregnancy.

The disease has led to export bans of related animal products from countries affected with SBV by countries including Russia and Mexico and a ban on dairy imports in India.

Overall in Europe there have been over 1,000 cases of Schmallenberg Virus, the majority being in Germany. Of the 1,041 cases of SBV in Europe, 607 are in Germany, the remainder outside of the UK are in Belgium (127), the Netherlands (103) and France (152). The number looks likely to rise as the lambing season continues.

Update 21/02/2012:

AHVLA figures for 21st February show the number of cases in the UK has risen to 55. All the newly reported cases are on sheep farms and all are within the 'at risk' zone identified by the AHVLA.

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