Livestock industry desperate for BTV vaccine, says CLA

Following the news that Bluetongue has spread to Kent and Peterborough, Angus Collingwood-Cameron, CLA North East Director, said: "The need for a vaccine for BTV8 was already clear when Bluetongue appeared in East Anglia last month. The new outbreaks further underline that there is no way of controlling the disease without a vaccine and the need is now even more urgent.

"This latest news is surely the wake up call. I don't care where a vaccine is developed or where it is produced as long as it is done as quickly as humanly possible. The livestock industry needs every available facility focused on this activity because without a vaccine, we could see thousands of holdings being infected next year."