Yorkshire and the Humber

Defra has today announced that the Bluetongue Protection Zone will be extended again on Thursday 7 August. This follows the delivery by Merial of over two million additional doses of Bluetongue serotype 8 (BTV- 8) vaccine.

The Protection Zone will be extended to cover those parts of Shropshire (District of Oswestry), Cheshire (Districts of Vale Royal, Chester, Ellesmere Port and Neston), Greater Manchester (Metropolitan Boroughs of Wigan, Bolton, Bury, Trafford and Salford) and North Yorkshire (Districts of Richmondshire and Craven) previously in the Free Area, and all of Merseyside (including the Metropolitan Boroughs of Liverpool, Knowsley, Sefton, St Helens and Wirral), the Unitary Authorities of Halton and Warrington, and Lancashire (including the Unitary Authorities of Blackpool and Blackburn with Darwen).

Vaccination is only permitted within the Protection Zone. We will continue to expand the Protection Zone and to roll out vaccination to the free area as vaccine is delivered, in line with the vaccination roll-out plan.

The additional vaccine is available for use in the existing Protection Zone from today, along with any existing supplies of Intervet vaccine. Livestock keepers in the areas coming into the Protection Zone will be able to obtain the vaccine from Thursday. However, they are encouraged to order vaccine so that they can protect their livestock at the earliest opportunity.

Protection Zone restrictions will apply to those keepers coming into the extended zone. Animals can only be moved out of the Protection Zone if they are vaccinated, naturally immune or moving for slaughter, subject to meeting certain conditions. Please refer to the Defra website for further guidance. Bluetongue has recently re-emerged in large areas of France. All livestock farmers are strongly encouraged to be vigilant and to vaccinate at the earliest possible opportunity.

Notes to Editors

1. The Protection Zone will be expanded at 00:01 on Thursday 7 August.

2. The vaccination roll-out plan is available on the Defra website at: http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/diseases/notifiable/bluetongue/control/vaccination/vaccination-rolloutplan.htm

3. Further information, including maps of the Bluetongue Zones and guidance on movement restrictions, can be found at: http://www.defra.gov.uk/bluetongue

4. Further information is available to farmers via the Defra helpline (0845 9335577) and website: http://www.defra.gov.uk

5. The Merial vaccine will require one 1ml dose in sheep and two 1ml doses in cattle, given four weeks apart. For further information on the use of the Merial vaccine, please see the operational guidance on the Defra website: http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/diseases/notifiable/bluetongue/control/vaccination/vaccination-operational.htm

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