Defra have announced the extention of the Bluetongue Protection Zone from Monday 12 May. The zone will now extend to all of Hampshire and West Sussex plus Lincolnshire, Berkshire and Oxfordshire. The Surveillance Zone remains unaffected.
Livestock keepers may apply to have land which they occupy within 8km of the Bluetongue Surveillance Zone to be designated as part of that zone. Details are available on the Defra web site.
50ml dose bottles are now obtainable in addition to the 20ml bottles publicised last week. Defra have also increased the number of vaccine doses ordered by an additional 13 million bringing the total number of doses requisitioned for England and Wales to over 35 million.
The RBST urges all cattle and sheep livestock members in the Bluetongue Protection Zone to contact their vet to order their vaccine. According to Defra, the final on-farm price for the vaccine "is likely to be around £27.50 - £33.00 for the 50ml bottles (i.e. 55-66p per ml) and around £16.35 - £19.65 for the 20ml bottles (i.e. 82-98p per ml), plus VAT".
The vaccine will require one single 1ml dose in sheep and two 1ml doses in cattle, given approximately 3 weeks apart. Once opened, the vaccine must be used within 8 hours. Although, all vaccine has to be bought from a vet, farmers can administer their own injections.
All photographs courtesy of Institute for Animal Health (IAH). Produced by the NFU for the Joint Campaign Against Bluetongue
For the latest information on the Protection Zones and the Vaccination Programme go to www.defra.gov.uk/bluetongue [1] or call the Defra helpline tel: 08459 335577
A good briefing on Bluetongue can be found here. [2]
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