Vaccine for the strain of bluetongue virus currently affecting livestock in England will be available in Wales in 2008.
Rural Affairs Minister Elin Jones has written to Hilary Benn to join the tendering process and order 2.5 million doses of bluetongue vaccine which will be made available for purchase by livestock keepers in Wales on a voluntary basis.
It is difficult at this stage to predict the extent to which bluetongue will be present when the vaccine becomes available next year. The European Commission has declared that vaccination will be permitted only inside a bluetongue Protection Zone. The Welsh Assembly Government has the power to declare a Protection Zone within Wales if it is considered that enabling vaccination would benefit disease control.
The Minister said:
"There have been no cases of bluetongue in Wales to date but given the unpredictability of this disease I am determined that we have resources available to us should they be required.