Bluetongue disease will, inevitably, reach the island of Ireland. And this may well happen sooner rather than later.
This is the strongly held view of Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) deputy chief veterinary officer, Dr. David Kyle.
He made the comments at the recent Northern Ireland Institute of Agricultural Science (NIIAS) annual conference.
Dr. Kyle said: “The disease carrying midges will arrive at some stage: we can’t control the weather.
“DAERA is currently monitoring midge and virus populations, specifically in Irish Sea coastal areas.”
The latest figures from Great Britain (GB) confirm the east/west march of the virus. However, to date, it has not reached those regions with high sheep populations.
Once bluetongue reaches Irish shores, 20km radius incursion zones will be established in an attempt to get to grips with the disease, according to the DAERA deputy chief veterinary officer.
Dr, Kyle referenced the future use of vaccines as a way farmers can get to grips with the problem within their own businesses.
According to the DAERA representative, a region’s animal health status will have a direct bearing on its ability to export food products.
In addition, disease has a direct bearing on animal performance and productivity.
Illegal animal and food importations heighten the risk of new disease threats, and Dr. Kyle confirmed that DAERA has strengthened its presence at all of Northern Ireland’s ports.
He referred to the attempts that have been made by some people to smuggle live sheep into Northern Ireland as “absolute folly”.
The World Organisation for Animal Health lists 118 notifiable diseases. All of these are linked to international food trading conditions.
Dr. Kyle said: “Food exports are worth in excess of £6 billion to Northern Ireland’s economy. So, protecting the future of our agri-food sectors is a key priority.
“And the same principle holds in the Republic of Ireland.”
The DAERA representative referenced the triple threat of bluetongue, foot and mouth disease (FMD), and highly pathogenic avian influenza – or bird flu – as the key concerns for Ireland’s agri-food sectors at the present time.
While Dr. Kyle highlighted the tremendous efforts made by the poultry sector in keeping avian influenza at bay over recent times, he struck a cautionary note where FMD is concerned.
This year has seen outbreaks of the disease confirmed in Germany, Hungary and Slovakia with two different lineages of the virus identified in these cases.
However, when it comes to attributing the initial causes of the disease outbreaks, bio-terrorism has been one of the options followed up.
