BTV8 has not been found circulating in Great Britain in 2009.
During the 'transmission-free' period over the winter, lower temperatures and decreasing midge activity means that bluetongue cannot be transmitted between animals. Hence unvaccinated animals do not present a risk to the protection of the Scottish livestock population during this time. We expect the transmission-free period, to start at the beginning of November. For this reason, the requirement for young animals to be vaccinated as they come of age was suspended on 25 October.
The serological survey which we carried out in September confirmed that there had been a high level of compliance with the compulsory vaccination campaign.
A BTV surveillance exercise will take place this winter across the whole of GB, starting from 1 November and running for approximately one month. It will enable us to get a clearer picture of the BTV8 disease situation, and enable us to detect any potential undetected incursion of new serotypes. The survey will test for all Bluetongue serotypes including BTV1 which is currently circulating in France.
A small number of carefully selected farms will be contacted directly by Animal Health agency and a sample of cattle will be chosen for PCR testing according to their risk of exposure to BTV. We hope that the farmers will co-operate in order to help us gather evidence to enhance our understanding of the BTV risk for next year. This is, however, only part of the picture and it is equally important to encourage the reporting of suspected disease for investigation by Animal Health.
A meeting will be held late in November, to discuss the disease situation in GB and on the continent, its implications for disease risk to Scotland and vaccination arrangements for 2010.
Should the results of the winter surveillance show that there is no circulating virus, it will also take us a step closer to being able to consider officially declaring freedom from disease at some point in the future.
The FAQ section provides more detail on the disease situation and the vaccination campaign. You can also obtain bluetongue guidance from your local Animal Health Office.