A case of Schmallenberg virus, the novel disease affecting sheep, cattle and goats in Northern Europe, has been confirmed in Buckinghamshire. Although the discovery of SBV on a sheep farm adds Buckinghamshire to the list of counties reporting infections, the AHVLA yesterday moved to reassure farmers that the county remains within the ‘at risk’ zone identified by AHVLA modelling.  

Another case was also confirmed on a sheep farm in the Channel Islands. The two cases identified this week are the first since 4th May.

This brings total number of cases in the UK to 258, of which 36 are in cattle and 222 are in sheep; AHVLA have said that all infections will have occurred late last summer or during the autumn and that, as cattle have a longer gestation period than sheep, the number of infections in cattle are expected to rise in relation to sheep.

Schmallenberg causes stillbirth, congenital abnormalities and spontaneous abortion if animals are infected during pregnancy.

Across the EU, the rate of infection has declined as animals infected at the key moment during pregnancy have, for the most part, given birth. AHVLA said it will continue to monitor the disease, as it remains unclear whether next year will bring new infections if the disease has survived in the midge population, which are through to be responsible for its spread. Schmallenberg was only discovered in August 2011 and given its provisional name later in the year.  

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