Deadly virus that has killed hundreds of lambs and calves on UK farms 'has spread to every county'

Spread: Schmallenberg virus has already killed hundreds of lambs or calves or caused them to be born with serious deformities

A killer virus blighting lambs and calves has spread across the country, infecting the majority of farms, experts said yesterday.
Schmallenberg virus, which has already killed hundreds of lambs and calves or caused them to be born with serious deformities, has been detected in every county in England and Wales.
Those figures are now expected to rise into the thousands as the new lambing season begins. The disease has been discovered on 976 British farms, compared with 276 in August.

  

The virus, which is spread by bloodsucking midges, has travelled across the country since it arrived last year.

 

Chief veterinary officer Nigel Gibbens said there is ‘likely to be a majority’ of farms infected.
Adult animals infected recover after a few days, but if they are pregnant it can affect foetuses.
Sheep are thought to be at greater risk of having dead or deformed offspring than cows.
No humans have caught the virus and the Food Standards Agency say there is no evidence that they will.

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