ABSTRACT
In 2007, the bluetongue virus arrived in the UK. Bluetongue is a virus borne and transmitted by midges to ruminants – mainly sheep, cattle and goats. Its effects can be devastating: some figures suggest mortality can be as high as 60 per cent. To reach the UK, it had travelled far: from Africa, up through France, Belgium and the Netherlands before being carried across the English Channel on a favourable wind. Quite why the disease had ended up in the UK was connected to a range of factors: globalization, the movement of people and goods, tourism, urbanization and climate change all favour the spread of animal viruses around the planet. Whatever the precise reason, the arrival of the virus finally confirmed the fears of vets, farmers and policy-makers: to protect animal health and the security of food chains, they would need to do something about it.
