Dumfries and Galloway temporary bluetongue restrictions to continue

Restriction measures put in place in south-west Scotland in a bid to stop the spread of bluetongue between farms are set to continue.

The Scottish government has announced a temporary control zone covering much of Dumfries and Galloway will join England and Wales and become a restricted zone from Thursday.

Under the change, livestock such as cattle, sheep and other susceptible ruminants will still need a licence if they are being moved out of the restricted zone to the rest of Scotland.

If an animal is showing clinical signs of bluetongue, it must be reported immediately to the Animal and Plant Health Agency.

The temporary control zone limiting movement which covered much of Dumfries and Galloway and parts of Ayrshire was put in place last month.

It came after the virus was recorded in livestock in Scotland for the first time at a site in Creetown.

Fiona Johnson – whose farm was affected – told the BBC she “felt awful” after the case was confirmed.

Experts believe that midges infected with the disease were blown over the border from England, where there are many more cases.

The most recent figures, external show bluetongue serotype 3 (BTV-3) has infected 64 cattle and 15 sheep at 20 farms in Scotland since the first case on 8 August.

They are located around Newton Stewart, Lockerbie, Castle Douglas, Kirkcudbright, Dalbeattie, Dumfries, Annan, Gretna, Canonbie, Twynholm and Gatehouse of Fleet.