Avatar Posted by 8ball1 286 days ago (http://news.bbc.co.uk)
Category: Science
Livestock farms in the UK will again be at risk from bluetongue from the second half of April, predict scientists.

Researchers have produced a map showing when farms in different parts of England and Wales are at most risk.

They say midges that could spread the virus will become active from the middle of March, but could begin infecting livestock just weeks later.

Last year, only a small number of farms were affected, but scientists warn many more are at risk during 2008.

The head of the team feared that a vaccine would not be ready until after the first animals had become infected.


With the sort of increase in infection we've seen in northern Europe, we'd be expecting thousands of farms to be infected this year.
Professor Philip Mellor,
Institute for Animal Research

Philip Mellor of the Institute for Animal Research warned that the disease, if left unchecked, would spread across the country this year.

"In the UK in 2007, the disease involved between 60 or 70 farms," he told BBC News.

"But with the sort of increase in infection we've seen in northern Europe, we'd be expecting thousands of farms to be infected this year."

Professor Mellor's team has been studying the lifecycle of midges and what happens to them when they are infected with the bluetongue virus.

The researchers have discovered that if the temperature doesn't drop below 15C (59F), it would take about two weeks for the insects to build up a sufficient amount of the virus to infect livestock.
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