Nine more farms confirm livestock virus

Nine more farms have reported cases of a disease which causes birth defects and miscarriages in livestock, taking the total cases of the outbreak to 92, latest figures show.

An update from the Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency (AHVLA) said that the Schmallenberg virus had been detected in 85 sheep and seven cattle, on farms across the south and east of England.

The virus first emerged in the Netherlands and Germany last year, causing mild to moderate symptoms in adult cattle, including reduced milk yield and diarrhoea, and late abortions and birth deformities in newborn sheep, goats and cattle.

Earlier this week, a Defra spokesman said the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control reported it was unlikely Schmallenberg virus would affect humans.