With Bluetongue disease detected in Suffolk, I ask myself what is happening to our countryside?
And what confidence can we have in Defra, after its recent bungling of foot and mouth disease?
The arrival of bluetongue was a shock, it is spread to farm animals by midges. How can it be controlled? Climate change has even been blamed for its presence, according to this BBC report:
The first-ever case of Bluetongue disease in Britain has been found in a cow near Ipswich, Suffolk.
Defra officials confirmed discovery of the insect-borne virus, which is usually found around the Mediterranean.
All ruminants, which include cattle, sheep, goats and deer, can be infected, but the viral infection is not thought to pose a risk to human health.
Since July there have been nearly 3,000 cases in Northern Europe, fuelling fears of its arrival in the UK.
It is transmitted by the Culicoides imicola midge. It is passed from animal to midge, and from midge to animal – it is not transmitted from animal to animal.
The virus has long blighted Africa, but in recent years has begun to spread northwards into Europe as the range of the biting insects has increased.
Some scientists believe that climate change could be behind its spread, as warmer temperatures have seen the midges gradually move north.
We need to prepare for our changing planet, for our evolving environment.
And on the subject of climate change, Arctic sea ice has shrank to its smallest area on record this year, according to US scientists.
The fabled Arctic shipping route from the Atlantic to the Pacific is normally ice-bound at some location throughout the year; but this year, ships have been able to complete an unimpeded navigation.
Who would have imagined the impact of this could have resulted in a midge striking a cow in Suffolk with a distressing disease which leads to its slaughter?
I’ve never heard of “blue-tongue” other than our blue-tongued lizards…and it’s natural to them!
Just a little perspective on the arctic ice. The record in question (satellite images) started in 1972, at a temperature low (remember the global cooling scares?). Direct measurement of temperatures goes back earlier than this, and the arctic is no warmer now than it was in the 1930s. At the same time, antarctic sea ice is at a record high.
Perhaps we do have man made global warming, but the selectiveness of the reporting is genuinely dishonest, and should make any rational person concerned and doubtful. See here and related posts linked at the bottom.
What is also of interest / concern is the business opportunities generated by an ice-free passage around the pole – even more profligate use of dwindling fossil fuels, fear.
With regard to the Bluetongue, it was almost inevitable. It has been suggested that malaria, yellow fever and other diseases transmitted by insect vectors may eventually show up. There is some interesting information here
Maalie,
It doesn’t surprise me either. The writing is on the wall regarding a threat of other diseases too, is anyone taking note? Thanks for the interesting link.
The disease is spread by midges and there are more of these on our shores because of climate and environmental change. That’s my unscientific opinion but anyone who has lived in the Cardiff Bay area would agree!
Like Malaria, Bluetongue is spread by a vector.
There have been cases of Malaria around major airports (Heathrow, Charles De Gaul in Paris and Schiphol in Holland). Airlines no longer spray insectides inside cabins so it comes as no surprise that Bluetongue has also been spread by this route to the local population of midges and not by global warming as the doom mongers would have us believe.