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| Bluetongue virus zones extended | Bluetongue virus zones extended |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| The control and protection zones to combat the bluetongue virus have been extended after fresh cases were confirmed in Essex, officials say. | The control and protection zones to combat the bluetongue virus have been extended after fresh cases were confirmed in Essex, officials say. |
| Animals cannot be moved outside the zone, which had previously included much of East Anglia. | Animals cannot be moved outside the zone, which had previously included much of East Anglia. |
| The government's deputy chief vet, Fred Landeg, said the proximity of new cases in livestock to zone boundaries meant that they had to be widened. | The government's deputy chief vet, Fred Landeg, said the proximity of new cases in livestock to zone boundaries meant that they had to be widened. |
| Farmers cannot move animals outside the control and protection zones. | Farmers cannot move animals outside the control and protection zones. |
| 'Accurate picture' | |
| On Wednesday, the number of confirmed cases of bluetongue disease rose to 34, the Department for the Evironment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said. | |
| The protection zone - from Lincolnshire to East Sussex - was set up after government vets confirmed bluetongue disease was circulating in the UK and was classed as an outbreak. | |
| Finding further cases is not unexpected Fred LandegDeputy Chief Vet | |
| Livestock owners within the protection zone are allowed to move animals only within its boundaries. | |
| A stricter 20km (12-mile) control zone was set up in East Anglia around the known bluetongue cases. | |
| The control zone has been extended south into Essex and the protection zone extended to the south west, a spokeswoman for Defra said. | |
| Mr Landeg urged all farmers to remain vigilant and check their animals twice daily. | |
| He said: "Finding further cases is not unexpected, particularly given the nature of the disease and its spread by midges, and we expect to see more cases before the end of the active midge season this winter." | |
| "If we are to contain disease within the Control and Protection Zone, we must have an accurate picture of how far the disease has spread." | |
| The majority of cases have been in Suffolk, with a cluster around Ipswich and another case near to Lowestoft. | |
| The disease is transmitted by biting midges and the symptoms, which are most severe in sheep, include swelling and haemorrhaging in and around the mouth and nose. | The disease is transmitted by biting midges and the symptoms, which are most severe in sheep, include swelling and haemorrhaging in and around the mouth and nose. |