The Shamonda virus (SHAV) is "not notifiable in Ireland or the EU, and there are no ramifications for animal movement or trade restrictions".

This was the message from Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon, yesterday (October 2), following reports of the virus being detected by a private laboratory.

Minister Heydon also said: “Thankfully, most infected animals have only a mild illness.

The minister added that there is currently no vaccine or treatment.

He said: "Farmers and horse owners with concerns should contact their private veterinary practitioner for further advice.”

This is the first time this emergent virus has been detected in Ireland, he said.

According to Minister Heyon, bovine samples from two farms in Co. Cork yielded positive results for SHAV during testing at Animal Health Laboratories in Bandon, Co. Cork.

He said the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) was engaging with the laboratory and would be carrying out follow-up investigations.

Animal Health Laboratories

Freya Vaughan, managing director of Animal Health Laboratories, told Agriland that the midge-borne disease was detected in samples from three animals on two farms.

She said the fact that this virus was circulating in Europe first became known during the summer.

Vaughan explained that "an emergency kind of webinar" was then held with staff from its Dutch-based parent company, GD Group.

"Not a huge amount was known about it, but they were just getting calls from farmers… They were getting a lot of calls, mostly dairy farmers, saying that there's huge drops in milk production," Vaughan said.

"So, you can see cattle go from 25, 30 litres a day down to 5 litres a day. So that was the main signal," she added.

As previously reported, farmers in the region where Animal Health Laboratories operates started calling in reporting "this major milk drop", as well as diarrhoea in cattle.

Shamonda virus

SHAV has been infecting cattle across Europe, and was also recently detected in cattle in the British Isles.

According to the UK's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) SHAV, which is thought to be primarily spread by Culicoides biting midges, has been identified in cattle in Jersey.

It mainly affects cattle, causing fever, diarrhoea, lethargy and reduced milk production.

Abortions have also been documented in infected cattle.