Finland’s food safety agency declared this week that it has found Schmallenberg antibodies in samples from livestock taken this autumn.

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The discovery makes Finland the eleventh country in Europe to have detected evidence of the novel livestock virus in its livestock. Veterinary scientists from food safety authority Evira took the samples in late September as part of a monitoring programme. They concluded that infection must have occurred in late summer or early autumn this year, just prior to their monitoring activities.

Two animals from a herd of cattle on the Åland Islands were found to have been infected with the virus. In nearby Sweden and Denmark, located on the other side of Sweden from Åland, antibodies to the Schmallenberg virus have also been detected during livestock testing.

The virus is thought to have originated in Germany, where the first cases were recorded. It causes flu-like symptoms in sheep, goats and cattle, but can result in severe complications if animals are infected during early pregnancy. Having overwintered in the midge population, the disease appears to have increased its range in the UK this summer, spreading further North into Lancashire, North Yorkshire and Northumberland.   

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