大象传媒

Following confirmation that bluetongue has been found in two cows at the Baylham House Rare Breeds Farm near Ipswich, neighbouring farmers are having to sit and wait to see if any other animals have been affected.

Experts say the disease is carried by midges, but it can only be passed to cattle, sheep, goats and deer (ruminants). It doesn't affect pigs.

It has to be transmitted by a midge bite - one sheep can't transmit it directly to another sheep.听 It can't be contracted by humans.

Tourist attraction

The Rare Breeds farm is popular with visitors and many children will have seen the affected highland cow which was called Debbie.听On Monday evening it was confirmed a second cow (an old Gloucester called Lorraine) had the disease and was put down.

The farm is run by the Storer family who're aiming to preserve breeds of livestock which are in danger of dying out.

大象传媒 Radio Suffolk presenter Mark Murphy sponsors a kune-kune pig, while the PG Wodehouse Society sponsors a Berkshire pig in honour of one of the most famous pigs in literature - The Empress from the Blandings novels.

The farm will be closed to visitors until tests of all cattle and sheep are completed by DEFRA and the all-clear is given.

The neighbours

Robin Richards runs the dairy farm opposite the Rare Breeds farm in Baylham.听 He's obviously concerned the midges could have bitten his animals: "One is suspicious as to whether they will employ a culling system.

"We've moved the cows a field away from the river. We're just making sure we check them several times a day to look for symptoms.

"I'm not too sure what they do with on the continent with bluetongue. The big worry is just not knowing at the moment. Up to now, they've been waiting for it to happen."

Three miles away at Sproughton, Ben Woolfe is a cattle farmer at Oak House Farm: "It seems inconceivable that just one midge would fly across the North Sea - we're having to keep checking our animals.

"I don't think there's a lot we can actually do.听 I think DEFRA are doing what they need to do which is checking to see if this is an isolated case. I'm sure they'll take the appropriate action from there."

"The short-term impact isn't as bad as foot and mouth, because your entire herd gets wiped out.

"The long-term impact could be worse if we get control measures which restrict exports and price."

Climate change?

The UK farming industry was well aware of the disease due to its prevalence in Europe. There were around 3,000 cases in northern Europe in the summer of 2007.

Nick Blayney, who's President-elect of the British Veterinary Association, says it would appear warmer weather means the midges are heading into northern Europe from the Mediterranean: "It affects a whole lot - if the midges are about they're going to bite a lot of animals in a herd or flock.

"For some time we've been briefing people to look out for the symptoms, but it can look like a lot of different things such as foot and mouth disease.

"It's important for farmers to be vigilant. The worrying thing is if we've got a reservoir of infection within livestock in this country already, then we could see more problems next summer, so we've got to detect any little pockets of infection.

"There won't be a cull like foot and mouth, but infected animals would have to be put down."

"It's because we've got such a high status of health surveillance that we know what's going on in our livestock.听 It's a sign that we're on top of things."

Visit the News section of the website for the latest updates on the bluetongue story.