Bluetongue spreads to Yorkshire farm after case detected in bull

A 20km Temporary Control Zone has been declared around a farm in the East Riding of Yorkshire after a case of bluetongue was detected in a bull.

APHA confirmed it had received a report of a positive case of the airborne virus on Wednesday (September 4) at a farm near Withernsea, along the English coast, just hours after Defra approved the use of three bluetongue vaccines in England.

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To reduce onward transmission, the bull will be culled.

Yorkshire has now become the fifth known county to be impacted by the virus alongside Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk and Kent.

Defra said the vaccines could still take 'weeks' before they can be used and they will be 'suppressive rather than preventative'; meaning there will be a possibility that livestock can still catch the virus.

The number of cases confirmed in England stands at 170 since November, with 44 animals testing positive since August 26.

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