LONDON, Feb. 27 (UPI) -- A disease causing birth defects and miscarriages in livestock has been detected on 74 farms in Britain, health authorities say.
The viral disease known as Schmallenberg infection has been diagnosed five times in cattle and 69 times in sheep, but the National Farmers' Union warned cases of the virus, first detected in the Netherlands and Germany last year, are possibly being "under-reported."
The virus, thought to be spread by midges, mosquitoes and ticks, is not believed to affect humans, officials said.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said it suspected midges blown across the English Channel from affected areas in Europe might have infected British livestock.
"Farmers are rightly concerned but no there is no panic at all," Nigel Gibbens, Britain's chief veterinary officer, told BBC News.
The disease can cause late miscarriages and birth deformities in newborn sheep, goats and cattle, with some sheep farmers reporting losses of as much as a quarter of their lambs, the farmers union said.
"Nobody knows much about the virus and nobody knows the extent to which it may have spread," union spokesman Ian Johnson said.
"That will manifest at peak lambing time in March and April."
