Bluetongue Disease Minister's Statement to Assembly 19/02/08

Mr Speaker, I wish to make a statement about Bluetongue virus that has been found in animals imported into the North from the continent of Europe.

Before I go into detail, I would like to make a few preliminary comments.

The first is to pay tribute to all DARD and AFBI staff, who have worked so hard in recent days – and who are still working – to defend our agriculture industry from Bluetongue.

Second, I wish to acknowledge the recent unanimous support from Agriculture Industry leaders to urge potential importers not to put their own businesses, as well of those of their neighbours, at risk.

And, not least, I appreciate very much the Press Release issued by the Agriculture and Rural Development Committee on 15 February.

I agree wholeheartedly with the statement by Dr McCrea that our farming industry does not need any further challenges at this time. His appeal to the whole industry to work with DARD to enforce high standards of bio-security reinforced effectively similar messages from me and from farmers’ leaders.

I thank Members from all parts of this Assembly for your understanding and support at this difficult time.

Perhaps I should start by outlining something of the background to Bluetongue.

Bluetongue virus is present in many countries worldwide, with various strains having been present in the Mediterranean area for some time.

However, in 2006, a new stain, Bluetongue serotype 8, began to circulate in Northern European countries like Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, Holland, and France.  In 2007, the virus appeared for the first time in Britain, in East Anglia.

Bluetongue is an economically significant disease for ruminant animals, mainly cattle, sheep and goats.  However, it does not affect humans.  And it spreads in a distinct way.

What I wish to make clear is that Bluetongue does not spread by direct transmission from animal to animal, for instance like Foot and Mouth Disease.  Nor is there any risk to farmers or stock-handlers.

Bluetongue is spread by midges.  If an infected animal is bitten by a midge at a period of the year when the ambient temperature is consistently above 15 degrees Centigrade, then the virus can develop within the midge, and that midge can then infect any other ruminant animal it bites.

The incursion of Bluetongue into England last autumn is believed to be the result of wind-borne midges arriving from the Continent via a prevailing easterly weather pattern.

That incursion has established a beachhead of infection in South East England that could spread north and west this summer by midge activity.  

However, as I have repeatedly said, the more immediate threat to the North and the more likely way the disease could arrive here is through imports of infected animals from bluetongue infected areas in Britain and the Continent.

That is why I have been encouraging farmers here not to import animals from such regions.

The economic consequences of the disease can be severe. Belgian sheep farmers have reported mortality rates of up to 30 per cent.  There is a loss of production in both dairy and beef cattle, although mortality levels are much lower, with a figure of 1 per cent being reported.

However, this is a new serotype of the virus and we are currently assessing the potential economic impact if it were to become established in the North. Whether it will transmit as easily in our climatic conditions also remains to be seen.  

It should soon be possible to vaccinate animals to provide protection from this disease. Veterinary pharmaceutical companies are currently developing Bluetongue vaccine. Vaccine supplies should start to come on stream in the summer of this year. Indeed DEFRA has ordered over 22.5 million doses of the vaccine.

While we are inputting to the preparation of vaccination plans, European Commission rules prohibit vaccination in Bluetongue free areas such as the island of Ireland at this time.

It is imperative that we seek to hold Bluetongue out as long as is possible.

We operate a programme of restricting and post-import testing all animals imported from the continent or bluetongue affected areas of Britain. Such imports are restricted on farms here until post-import tests results prove negative.

Turning now to developments here in the past few days……

Last Thursday, 14 February, we obtained a preliminary blood test result from one imported dairy heifer located on a farm in North Antrim that indicated the likely presence of the bluetongue virus.

I took the decision to cull that animal on the same day, as a precautionary measure while we waited for confirmation of the result from the Community Reference Laboratory in Pirbright.

The result, which was formally confirmed the next day, showed the presence of bluetongue virus in this animal.  

The animal was one of a group of 21 dairy cattle imported to this farm from the same collection centre in the Netherlands during January. The animals had originated from farms in the Netherlands and Germany.

These animals had been tested for bluetongue after arrival here, as is routine for any ruminant animal imported into the North from the continent, on 22 January.

At that time this animal was negative for both evidence of exposure to the virus, that is the ELISA test, and it was also negative for the presence of virus on the PCR test.

At this post import test there were 8 heifers in the group of 21 that tested positive for anti-bodies and this indicated that they had previous exposure to the virus, that is they were ELISA positive.

Just so that everyone understands what this means, these animals did not have live virus in their blood, just anti-bodies. A bit like someone having had chicken pox as a child who still has anti-bodies years later.

These animals also were tested for live virus by the PCR test and all were found to be PCR negative, which indicated the absence of active infection.

However, we took the precaution of restricting the herd for a longer period of time than is usual and retested all of the cattle 30 days post-import.

This retest was done on the 11^th February and it was at this test that the one heifer showed up positive on PCR, that is we found the presence of the bluetongue virus.

Having culled the infected heifer and received confirmation of a positive test, on Friday we took the decision to also cull her calf as an additional precaution.

This was because it was possible that the calf was infected, due to the risks of virus transmission to the calf before birth and because of the close contact it had had with its mother.

Over the weekend we received results from tests on blood samples collected on Friday 15 February from the calves born to the other cattle in this group.  They showed that 3 out of 4 calves born to heifers in this group were ELISA positive and PCR positive, that is they also showed active infection with the bluetongue virus.

On the basis of these results and in light of the findings of the investigation so far, I took the decision on Sunday to cull the remaining 20 cattle in this imported group and all of their calves.

The culling of these animals was completed on-farm yesterday.

It was judged prudent to remove all of the remaining heifers in this group as the mechanism by which the original animal and the calves became infected is uncertain.  What is certain is that this group of cattle had already been exposed to the infection and that they presented a risk.

The mechanism by which animals in this group have become actively infected at this time is still under investigation and further testing is taking place in AFBI and Purbright as I am speaking to you.  

However, and this is important, there is no evidence that vectors are active in this shed, and the suckler herd held in the same airspace remains uninfected although intensive surveillance is still being undertaken on this group. I will return to this point shortly.

Finally, I wish to inform you that yesterday we also culled a further 3 animals imported in another batch as a precautionary measure.

Because of the uncertainly of the mechanism by which the animals in the first group were contacting the virus, it was considered prudent to remove these additional animals.

The Department is under no obligation to pay compensation for imported animals that have been infected by, or exposed to, the bluetongue virus.

I want to repeat that my Department and I are determined to do all we can to keep the North’s  Bluetongue-free disease status. This cull does not mean that the disease is circulating here.

An outbreak of bluetongue and the infected status of a country depend on the presence of evidence to show that the virus is circulating in animals other than those imported with the disease, which is taken to demonstrate infection in the local midge population.

We have no evidence from our active surveillance at this time to suggest that this is the case and so the North, indeed the island of Ireland retains its Bluetongue-free disease status.

I have kept DEFRA and Mary Coughlan, Minister for Agriculture in the South, informed.

I assure you I will continue to be focused on trying to ensure that this disease is contained through quick, decisive action

The remaining cattle and sheep on this farm will continue to be restricted and will be tested regularly until we are satisfied that there is no remaining risk of infection.  

Surveillance testing will be extended as necessary for other imported animals and across other areas of the North.

I have asked my officials to consider what else needs to be done.

I shall announce in coming days what further steps are to be taken.

In the meantime, nothing must divert us from the immediate task, which is to implement intensive surveillance around the affected farm in North Antrim.

I should also say that this is the only farm that has given cause for concern. I will keep the Assembly informed as the investigation progresses and as more information comes to light that helps us to understand the incident on this farm.

In conclusion, Mr Speaker, as I said on Friday, farmers who are considering importing livestock from bluetongue affected areas should “wise up” if they are serious about keeping Bluetongue out of the island of Ireland.

On Friday the Ulster Farmers’ Union President called for a voluntary ban in relation to the import of animals from Bluetongue affected areas.  

I welcome this move  - as I do not have any statutory power to ban such imports - and would plead again with farmers considering importing to think again. This experience demonstrates that it is far too risky.

How long will it be before that message gets through?

I have already reminded farmers about vigilance in relation to Bluetongue on a staggering 23 occasions – at least – since my appointment.

On 6 occasions since May 2007, I have explicitly asked farmers in Press Releases to think carefully before importing.

The Chief Veterinary Officer has written to all cattle and sheep owners in the North about this, and DARD has issued posters and flyers to farmers and Private Veterinary Practitioners.

DARD will again this week be running a series of advertisements reminding farmers to be vigilant and to remind them of the precautions they should take in relation to Bluetongue.

I regret the circumstances that have led to me having to make this announcement.

One farming business has already suffered loss. I appeal again to anyone thinking of importing animals at this time to think twice about the impact it may have on their own business and the wider community.

I assure you that I and my Department will continue to do all that we can to retain our Bluetongue-free disease status but, as I have repeatedly said, we need everyone in the farming industry to be responsible and vigilant.

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