New Virus Affects English Lambs

The Schmallenberg virus causes miscarriages and birth defects in lambs and calves, and has already affected 74 farms in the south and east of England.

The number of contaminated farms is expected to rise during the peak of the lambing season in March and April.

Midges are suspected of carrying the virus to the UK last summer, which is thought not to be harmful to humans.

A spokesman for the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said, “The midges are not around at the moment, so movement restrictions are not going to have any effect. The potential for direct transmission from one animal to another is still unknown.”

There is currently no treatment available and a vaccine could take up to two years to develop.

Symptoms are yet to be identified in adult sheep, but it is known to cause diarrhoea, fever and a lower milk yield in cows, which later recover.