A vaccination programme against blue tongue disease has been dogged by delays as 6,500 cases have been reported in France since the beginning of the summer
The Ministry of Agriculture said battling the disease had so far cost €94million and added that a delay in vaccine production had slowed its vaccination campaign, leading more animals to become infected.
Production at the factory of French vaccine producers Merial in Pirbright, Surrey was halted on August 3 last year after it was linked to an outbreak of foot and mouth in the country.
A pipe connecting the facility to the Institute of Animal Health, a laboratory for identifying and monitoring outbreaks of foot and mouth, leaked the disease into the countryside.
In France, regions previously unaffected by the disease have started to report cases.
The virus is transmitted by midge bites and affects sheep and cattle. There have been no cases of it transferring to humans.