Welcome to the Wales & Borders British Blue
Cattle Club Website
Welsh Assembly Government intends to declare the whole of Wales
a Bluetongue Protection Zone
6th August 2008
The Welsh Assembly Government announced today (5 August) its intention
to declare the whole of Wales a Bluetongue Protection Zone as opposed
to introducing a gradual roll-out of the Zone by county. This will
be subject to the availability of Bluetongue vaccine and no new
outbreak of disease.
It is expected that this will happen around the end of August or
the beginning of September. This approach will enable vaccination
to take place across the whole of Wales within a matter of weeks.
Today Wales’ Chief Veterinary Officer Dr Christianne Glossop
said “Both Intervet and Merial have now obtained provisional
market authorisation for their vaccine and we are in a position to
deliver an effective strategy for vaccination in Wales. The precise
timing for the Protection Zone declaration is dependent upon when
vaccine batches are available.
“This decision highlights the need for a concerted effort from the livestock
industry to reignite their interest in vaccination; the need to minimise the
impact of Bluetongue controls during the autumn trading season and to ensure
the process is simple and easily understood.
“We are entering the period of highest risk of Bluetongue and, as midge
populations become more active, the threat of virus circulation increases.
The decision to designate the whole of Wales a Protection Zone has been made
following careful analysis of a range of factors including veterinary risk
and economics, in consultation with our key industry stakeholders.”
Dr Glossop added: “While we are seeing a significant number
of new cases of Bluetongue in mainland Europe – some 2,000
cases in Northern Europe to date - we have not yet seen the disease
in Wales. This is due to the controls imposed across Europe and the
successful vaccination programme in England and Wales so far. I would
strongly urge livestock keepers to be proactive in vaccinating their
animals as soon as vaccine becomes available.”
Wales & Borders British Blue Club Calf Show
2008
Arrangements have been made for this years calf show
to be held at Newcastle Emlyn, Carmarthenshire on Saturday 11th October.
There will be classes for both pedigree and crossbred calves covering
ages up to 12 months.
Entry forms will be sent to members early in August, with the closing
date for entries 11th September. We will also soon be posting more
information on the website.
Newcastle Emlyn should have been the calf show venue in 2007 but
unfortunately due to circumstances beyond our control we were unable
to hold it. In future, it is intended to hold the show in a different
region of Wales & the Borders each year. Lobby your local rep
if you would like the show to be in your area.
Club Contacts
Chairman - Rhys Jenkins - 01994 419732
Vice Chairman - Rhys Bellis - 01239 811188
Treasurer - Gill Evans - 01654 702103
Secretary - Sue Evans - 01570 470639
North Wales Rep. - Elwyn Jones - 01248 371433
Mid Wales Rep. - Brian Griffiths - 01686
670754
South Wales Rep. - Andrew Phillips - 01239
654509
Borders Rep. - Nigel Pritchard - 01544 318312
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