It has emerged that a virus attacking cattle has spread to sheep, after Bluetongue was found in two flocks in Suffolk in the UK.

The confirmation of a fifth case of Bluetongue in the UK reinforces the need for the highest levels of vigilance across the island of Ireland, IFA president Padraig Walshe said today.

Bluetongue virus is now circulating in the UK, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs confirmed today.

A fifth animal is being culled tonight in the UK after testing positive for bluetongue, the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said tonight.

A fourth animal has tested positive for bluetongue on a third farm in the UK, the British Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said today.

A third animal has tested positive for bluetongue, a livestock virus which struck in Britain for the first time last week, British government vets said today.

A surveillance zone has been put in place to monitor bluetongue after a second animal was found to have contracted the disease at the British farm where the UK's first case of the disease was discovered.

Irish farming organisations are urging their members to be vigilant following a case of bluetongue disease in England.

Minister for Agriculture Mary Coughlan has today described the detection of the Bluetongue infection in Britain as a "worrying development".

Irish farmers are being urged to be vigilant, as authorities in Britain investigate an outbreak of Bluetongue disease.

A double threat emerged for Britain’s farmers tonight when bluetongue disease joined foot-and-mouth as a menace to their livestock.