It has come to the attention of the Joint Health & Welfare Group that some of vets appear to be unsure of the vaccinations required for Camelids.

ALL CAMELIDS REQUIRE TWO VACCINATIONS. EACH VACCINATION TO BE 1ml.

THE SECOND VACCINATION TO BE 21 DAYS AFTER THE FIRST.

 The message is clear, if you are within the Protection Zone :  

Don't hesitate, vaccinate

Vaccine must be ordered via your veterinary surgeon.  Livestock keepers may apply to have land which they occupy within 8 km of the Bluetongue Surveillance Zone to be designated as part of that zone.

Please encourage everyone you know who…

On 8 May, Defra announced that the Bluetongue Protection Zones will be extended and merged at 06:00 hrs on Monday 12 May, following the delivery of additional doses of Bluetongue vaccine. Vaccination is only permitted within the Protection Zone, therefore in accordance with the Bluetongue vaccination plan, the Protection Zones will be merged by extending the zones into all of Hampshire and West Sussex. The Protection Zone will also be extended into all of Lincolnshire, Berkshire and Oxfordshire. The Surveillance Zone is unaffected. 

To check the position of your own farm please type your post…

1 May 2008

Dear Member  

At long last we have had the announcement from Defra saying that Bluetongue vaccine is now being released to wholesalers and is ready for distribution to the Protection Zones (PZ) – this includes the New Forest and Dorset PZ.

The first batch of one million doses of the vaccine is now available in 20-dose bottles.  A larger batch of up to two million doses, produced in 50-dose bottles, is expected to follow within a few days.  The vaccine will require one dose in sheep and two doses, given three weeks apart, in cattle.The necessary licences to allow vaccination to take…

13 April 2008  

Issued by:Liz Butler

Health & Welfare - British Llama Society.

Dear Member  

Bluetongue Serotype 8

Bluetongue 8 is one of 24 serotypes of the disease that first arrived in Northern Europe in 2006. It arrived in England in early August 2007 and so far 125 UK farms have been affected. Experiences in Holland indicate that 2008, the second year for the UK, will be a very difficult one with a much higher rate of infection.

Bluetongue 8 is a virus spread by midges [Culicoides species]. It affects all ruminants but not humans. It is recognised as one of the more virulent types of the…