Schmallenberg virus: Kent MP calls for livestock import-export ban

Despite all the state veterinary huff and puff, bullying, intimidation, faking, corruption and general hooliganism to keep Britain in the dark, Britain's government vets are not really believed any more.

There have been too many animal and zoonotic illnesses, arriving from abroad and causing chaos, with the method of entry never found.

Only constant fabrications and secrecy in place of openess and integrity have been on offer in Britain for years.

Maff-Defra, the agricultural ministry, renamed following the FMD disaster, have been using very trick in the book to keep Britain in ignorance.

The veterinarians are now running out of all credibility.

BBC report here

4 March 2012 Last updated at 12:29

Schmallenberg virus: Kent MP calls for livestock export ban

Calls for a ban on the export of livestock in the face of a recent UK outbreak of Schmallenberg virus have been made by a Kent MP.

Laura Sandys, the Conservative MP for Thanet, said the import and export of live animals should be banned to stop the virus spreading.

The disease causes birth defects and miscarriages in livestock.

Humans are thought to be unaffected by the virus, which is believed to be spread by midges, mosquitoes and ticks.

'Such uncertainty'
Ms Sandys said: "There are so many unknowns at present.

"There is no treatment or preventative vaccine available, nor are we are clear on how the virus is being transmitted.

"With such uncertainty about how the infection could spread, I am calling for all international transportation of live animals to cease immediately."

A total of 92 cases of the Schmallenberg virus have been reported in the UK.

In England, the most recent cases have been on the Isle of Wight and in Wiltshire, West Berkshire and Gloucestershire.

Earlier cases were reported in Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Kent, East and West Sussex, Hertfordshire, Surrey, Hampshire and Cornwall.

Defra said it suspected livestock may have got the virus from infected midges blown across the Channel from affected areas in Europe.