23/03/2012Posted : March 23, 2012
Infection confirmed on 209 UK farms

Schmallenberg virus (SBV) infection has now been identified on 209 UK farms, according to the latest GB testing results from the Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency (AHVLA).

Schmallenberg virus (SBV) infection has now been identified on 209 UK farms, according to the latest GB testing results from the Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency (AHVLA).

Clinical signs of Schmallenberg disease in a lamb. Seventeen of the positive cases have been diagnosed in cattle, 192 in sheep, but none to date in other species.

In addition to the rise in affected premises, one case has also been discovered in the previously SBV free county of Bedfordshire, and two cases have been confirmed in Jersey (Channel Islands).

The AHVLA still claims that infection has only been identified in areas at risk of midge incursion from Northern Europe during summer / autumn 2011.

However, the agency says it "cannot rule out the possibility that domestic (local) midges may have transmitted SBV within the affected areas". Domestic midges may have been infected after biting a local animal infected during the incursion of continental midges last summer .

The current figures, courtesy of AHVLA, are:

County	Positive holdings (Sheep)	Positive holdings (Cattle)	Total
Bedfordshire	1	0	1
Cambridgeshire	1	0	1
Channel Islands	2	0	2
Cornwall	1	0	1
Devon	3	0	3
Dorset	4	0	4
East Sussex	31	1	32
Essex	10	0	10
Greater London	1	0	1
Hampshire	12	0	12
Hertfordshire	6	0	6
Isle of Wight	2	0	2
Kent	35	4	39
Leicestershire	1	0	1
Lincolnshire	1	0	1
Norfolk	16	4	20
S Gloucestershire	3	0	3
Somerset	3	0	3
Suffolk	12	3	15
Surrey	5	0	5
Warwickshire	2	0	2
West Berkshire	2	0	2
West Sussex	32	3	35
Wiltshire	6	2	8
Total	192	17	209