Farmers are being urged to seek advice from their vets on how to manage the risk of bluetongue.

President of the Irish Co-operative Organisation Society (ICOS), Edward Carr, said it is "worrying" to see new cases of bluetongue being identified in additional parts of the country, diagnosed as part of ongoing surveillance.

This comes as the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has identified further cases of bluetongue in counties Louth and Wicklow, with a number of cases confirmed in Wexford since January.

'More widespread'

Carr said: "It’s clear that disease is more widespread than we initially thought, and it’s likely to spread further when conditions become milder.

“We don’t know how severe the disease might be, and we certainly hope that symptoms will be mild.

"But, given the sensitivity of the breeding season, and the importance of high fertility in herds, farmers should speak to their vets to seek advice as to whether vaccination would be appropriate in their own herd circumstances."

Vaccination

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon announced last December that bluetongue vaccination under licence would be permitted in Ireland from 2026.

"The high-risk period for infection will be during warmer months," Minister Heydon said recently.

"Farmers, in consultation with their veterinary practitioners, should consider whether to use BTV-3 vaccines during the spring to protect their stock in advance of any midge-borne virus spread that is possible during the warmer months."

He said the roll-out of vaccines is a "commercial decision" for farmers.

"My role was to make it available and make sure we engaged with vaccine companies so that stock would be available," the minister said.

"It is a commercial decision and we continue to work on that basis."