Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps are being taken to put in place precautions to prevent the spread of the Schmallenberg virus.

Defra is responsible for endemic disease issues in England. Alongside the Welsh Government and Scottish Government, it sponsors the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), which provides services across Great Britain.

APHA is monitoring the virus in Great Britain and working with veterinary professionals and the cattle and sheep sectors to raise awareness. The Agency works with officials in Northern Ireland and the EU to better understand the disease. It offers testing where there are reasonable grounds to suspect that cattle disease is caused by the virus. Preventing the spread of the disease is difficult as it is spread by midges, however there are two vaccines offering protection against the disease currently licenced in the UK, one of which is currently manufactured.