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Professor discusses spread and impact of bluetongue in radio interview

Posted 6 February

The spread and impact of bluetongue has been examined for the BBC by a Professor of Veterinary Public Health after the disease was recently discovered in Shropshire.

Philip Robinson, Deputy Head of the , was interviewed on the county’s radio station to explain more about what bluetongue is, how a tiny insect is involved in its spread – and what it means for farmers.

He told BBC Radio Shropshire presenter Clare Ashford: “Bluetongue is a viral disease of ruminants and other animals, particularly sheep, cattle, goats, deer, and camelids such as llamas and alpacas.

“It tends to affect sheep more seriously - it tends to make them more sick than cattle. Sometimes we don't really see any symptoms, and yet the animals are still infected.

“But in sheep the main symptoms we tend to see are a dullness, some ulcers around the mouth and nose, some discharge from the eyes and nose, and they may be drooling saliva because of the irritation to the tongue.

“In cattle, some similar signs, some crossover, but we also can see a decrease in milk yield in dairy animals, and they may not be eating. They may have quite red eyes, some crustiness around the nostrils, but the fever that puts them off their food. And again, we can see those abortions in cattle and sometimes deformed calves.”

Having set out its impact upon infected animals, Professor Robinson explained how the disease passes from animal to animal – and the role played by a tiny insect better known for annoying outdoor cooks and holidaymakers.

He added: “It's an interesting disease in how it spreads, because the main way that the disease is the disease is spread through midges - those little insects that bite us during barbecues in the summer.

“Culicoides is the specific species of midge.  If an animal is infected with the virus and a midge bites that animal to feed on the animal, then it will pick up the virus. The virus goes through a process of incubation within the midge and after a number of days, if that midge then infects a susceptible animal, then it will pass on the virus. And that's the main way of spreading the virus, through the midges.

“Midges seem like very insignificant insects - except when they annoy us at a barbecue - but they are vital to the spread of this disease.

“It doesn't actually spread from one animal directly to another animal. It's not contagious in that sense – a midge has to be involved in the spread.”

Professor Robinson has had a long career working in Veterinary Public Health, as an academic, for government, and as a vet in private veterinary practice.

In 2001, whilst working for the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD, now DAERA), Philip was one of the first department officials to visit and confirm the presence of Foot and Mouth Disease on one of the infected farms in Northern Ireland. He saw the clinical impact of bluetongue when a different serotype of the disease first entered the UK back in 2007.

He has also conducted research and provided policy advice on other notifiable diseases including brucellosis and bovine TB and - securing a PhD on the latter, working in social as well as veterinary science.

Looking at the impact of bluetongue – and what it means for farmers - he explained that, once an animal is infected with the disease, it is incurable – so a vet’s role would be about managing its symptoms and impact on the animal.

He added that vaccines which mitigate the effects of bluetongue are available – and that farmers should consider speaking to their vets about these products and whether they’d be right for their flocks and herds, and said: “The disease has no impact for human health, so it has no impact on food products from livestock, but it’s obviously a concern and another distress for farmers.

“It will impact on animals’ production, it will impact on their health and welfare if they get sick and get infected - and that's something that farmers will have to manage in collaboration with their own private vet.

“It's obviously nigh on impossible to manage midges.

“We’re in the winter period when midges are much less active but once we move into the spring and through the summer into the autumn, that's when midges are the most active, that's the most dangerous period for the spread of bluetongue.

“It’s a case of hoping that the virus doesn't come to the herd or flock, but if it does, then in collaboration with vets managing the disease, the disease is a notifiable disease.

“That means that if there's a suspicion of the presence of bluetongue, that must be reported to the government veterinary authorities - that’s the -  and that's very important for farmers to do as well.”