Welsh farmers were today urged to be vigilant following the detection of Schmallenberg Virus (SBV) antibodies in three cows and one calf on premises in Ceredigion.

The Farmers’ Union of Wales described the development as very concerning. The history of the three animals suggests they were infected by SBV while on the holding, up to a year ago.

FUW animal health and welfare committee chairman Catherine Nakielny said:  "I would reiterate the warning we put out in January that all farmers in Wales need to be on the lookout for any unusually high incidences of abortion or congenital abnormalities - deformed lambs, swollen heads, weak lambs etc.

“They should report anything unusual to their veterinarian, especially given the recent developments."

The presence of SBV in Wales is not unexpected. The Animal Health Veterinary Laboratories Agency (AHVLA), the Welsh Government and the Wales Animal Health & Welfare Strategy Steering Group have kept SBV under close scrutiny since its arrival in Britain late in 2011.

As of July this year, there were 275 UK farms reporting positive for SBV.  Of these, 53 were in cattle, 219 in sheep and three in both.

“There is a strong need to continue to monitor SBV in Wales and to this end livestock farmers should be vigilant and report suspicions to their private veterinary surgeon,” added Dr Nakielny .

“SBV is not currently a notifiable disease in the UK  but farmer’s need to remember that test samples taken from suspect animals will still be paid for by Government for the time being.”

It remains possible that midges could continue to spread SBV in Britain through the autumn and into the winter but the FUW hopes the poor weather which has blighted the industry over the summer has reduced the risks of transmission.

There is no known risk to human health from SBV but the advice for pregnant women remains to be cautious around farm animals and to follow strict hygiene procedures, the union has stressed.

Advice to farmers is to make use of two AHVLA programmes of enhanced surveillance for foetal deformities and for acute SBV disease in cattle.  FUW members wishing to know more about these programmes should contact their county office.

“Advice from the AHVLA for possible actions to reduce the impact of Schmallenberg virus in sheep flocks is to delaying tupping until midge activity is reduced, delaying breeding from ewe lambs until 2013,” said Dr Nakielny.

Immunity may have then developed by the 2013 tupping season either by exposure to infected midges or through the use of vaccine, if such becomes available.

Farmers are also advised to use products which repel or control biting insects prior to tupping and in early pregnancy.

The likely benefit of these products is uncertain particularly as midges are widespread and appear to be particularly effective in transmitting the virus.

Other measures such as housing ewes, and removing muck heaps to deny breeding habitats from the vicinity of housed sheep may help to reduce midge exposure.

Many aspects of this virus remain unknown and there is currently no vaccine or treatment available.

SBV research and surveillance remains ongoing and the FUW will continue to monitor the scientific and technical developments relating to this virus.

Former Secretary of State for Wales Lord Morris of Aberavon will recall his role in the formation of the Farmers' Union of Wales when he meets the union's Meirionnydd county branch officials, members and staff tomorrow (Tuesday September 25).

"The great significance of his visit will be the opportunity to reminisce about the time he was actively involved with the formation of the FUW as the union's legal adviser and deputy general secretary between 1956 and 1958," said current FUW Meirionnydd county executive officer Huw Jones.

An account of this period is included in Lord Morris' book "Fifty Years in Politics and the Law" published last year by University of Wales Press.

"One chapter is devoted to this time when he recalls how he came home to Wales for Christmas in 1955 when 'all hell had broken loose in the agriculture community' and a strong case had been set to justify an independent union in and for Wales," said Mr Jones.

"Lord Morris founded and edited the early editions of the union's newspaper Y Tir and travelled thousands of miles setting up branches and giving legal advice throughout Wales. He recalls that he often stayed overnight on farms in Meirionnydd."

Lord Morris’ period as Secretary of State for Wales was absolutely crucial in the formation and development of the FUW. His foreword in "A Family Affair" - Handel Jones' book about the FUW between 1955 and 1992 - reveals that at the Welsh Office in 1974 one his many aims was the granting of recognition to the FUW on the basis of satisfaction of its representation.

Stating that the decision from April 1 1978 was his alone, he wanted to ensure it was taken while there were joint ministers in charge of Welsh agriculture and he ensured the announcement was made jointly by Agriculture Minister John Silkin and himself on March 23 1978.

"This was an incredibly important date in the FUW history and Lord Morris’ visit will no doubt be considered by the county branch as an important milestone in the history of the FUW in Meirionnydd," Mr Jones added.

"It will be a unique opportunity to discuss the inner workings of the British Government and Welsh politics. Of particular relevance to Meironnydd will be his recollection of the crucial meeting on Friday May 11 1956 at the Free Library in Dolgellau which, as assistant general secretary, he attended with the union’s general secretary at the time J B Evans and the late Lord Geraint Howells, chairman of the provisional county executive committee in Cardiganshire.

"We will be visiting the Free Library to take photographs outside the building where a plaque was installed on May 11 2006 when the county branch celebrated 50 years since its formation.

"Lord Morris will also visit FUW life member Richard ap Simon Jones, of Ysguboriau, Tywyn, who was present at the first meeting on May 11 1956. Mr Jones was FUW national vice president between 1976 and 1980, an immensely important period in the FUW’s development.

"Mr Jones recalls sitting alongside John Silkin’s Private secretary during the FUW AGM in 1978 and, when asked about his knowledge of the FUW, he stated that 'what satisfies him most is the fact that the FUW is made up of family farms’."

A European task force of scientific experts has backed the Farmers' Union of Wales' position by criticising the Welsh Government's decision to vaccinate rather than cull badgers to control bovine TB.

A report by the European Commission's bTB sub-group, comprising veterinary experts from across the EU, states: "There is no scientific evidence to demonstrate that badger vaccination will reduce the incidence of TB in cattle.

"However, there is considerable evidence to support the removal of badgers in order to improve the TB status of both badgers and cattle."

The conclusions confirm that Wales' TB eradication programme has been severely compromised, says the FUW, and reflects what the union has been saying regarding badger culling for the past decade.

FUW TB spokesman, Carmarthen dairy farmer Brian Walters, said today: "More than five years ago the FUW wrote to the EC to highlight these concerns and asked that Europe properly analyse the science and take a robust approach to the UK's failure to tackle TB in badgers.

"At last, the scientific experts have not only come out and supported what we have been saying all along, but they have also effectively slammed the Welsh Government for making policies based upon elections rather than tackling disease.

"Yet we know from the outcome of the last Welsh Assembly elections that those most supportive of badger culling kept their seats, so it really seems there is not even an excuse for such political cowardice."

According to the report, UK politicians "must accept their responsibility to their own farmers and taxpayers as well as to the rest of the EU and commit to a long-term strategy that is not dependent on elections".

It also states: "The Welsh eradication plan will lose some impetus as badger culling will now be replaced with badger vaccination. This was not part of the original strategy that consisted of a comprehensive plan that has now been disrupted."

Mr Walters said now that a group of international scientific experts has effectively slammed the Welsh Government for going against the science and deliberately decelerating its TB eradication programme, the FUW has written to environment minister John Griffiths asking for an urgent meeting to discuss where Wales goes from here.

"We will naturally be arguing for a return to a policy based upon science," Mr Walters added.

The Farmers' Union of Wales is calling on the Welsh Government to pay for pre-movement bTB testing of cattle following its U-turn over a badger cull to combat bovine TB.

"We repeatedly raised concerns with the previous Welsh Government that its failure to introduce policies relating to badgers and cattle in tandem would lead to additional costly cattle controls being introduced prematurely," said FUW president Emyr Jones.

"The union's original fears that the previous Welsh Government's decision to carry out a badger cull in an Intensive Action Area in West Wales would either be compromised or reneged upon were realised in March when environment minister John Griffiths announced the abandonment of the planned cull."

Mr Jones said this betrayal of the industry led to a resolution being proposed by the Glamorgan FUW branch demanding all pre-movement tests should be paid for by the Welsh Government, and the resolution was passed unchallenged at a meeting of the union's governing council last Thursday.

In a letter to environment minister John Griffiths, Mr Jones states: "While the FUW fully recognises the role which cattle play in disease transmission, the scientific evidence published by the Welsh Government indicates badgers are responsible for around 50% of confirmed herd breakdowns in areas where the disease is endemic, while herd incidence levels in areas of Wales continue to be on a par with those in Scotland, which is officially bTB free, and pre-movement testing is not compulsory.

"The current situation is the direct result of inaction by successive Welsh and UK Governments, and has led to thousands of cattle farmers in Wales annually paying the severe emotional and financial price of bTB breakdowns.

"The lack of meaningful Government action to tackle disease in what your own figures suggest is a species responsible for 50% of confirmed herd outbreaks in high incidence areas, and the betrayal of the industry which has occurred during the past twelve months, leaves us with no doubt that the Welsh Government has a moral obligation to pay for the cattle control policies it has introduced to help tackle an epidemic it and its predecessors are largely responsible for causing.

"We would therefore ask that serious consideration be given to paying for those cattle control rules which were originally introduced as part of an holistic bTB Eradication Programme, or that a proper review of pre-movement testing be instigated with a view to introducing a policy which is proportionate, holistic and addresses the major disease reservoir which exists in the badger population."