Cattle virus hits nine more farms

Nine more farms in England have been hit by the Schmallenberg virus, the midge-borne livestock infection that can cause birth deformities in lambs and calves.

It brings the total number of cases to 92 – seven have been in cattle and the other 85 in sheep, the Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency said yesterday.

The cases, in East Anglia, Kent and Sussex, are attributed to midges carried to Britain on the wind from continental Europe last August and September.

Humans are thought to be unaffected. A vaccine is expected to be ready in two years.