Laboratory tests have identified the strain of Bluetongue found in one Highland cow at the Baylham House Rare Breeds Farm near Ipswich, Suffolk and Defra have placed restrictions around this site.

This is the first time Bluetongue virus has been recorded in the UK although this strain has been found in Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg and Netherlands since August 2006.

Few facts about Bluetongue:

* Bluetongue does not affect humans and the Health Protection Agency advise that people who have visited the affected premises do not need to be concerned that there is any risk to their health.

* This is a disease of animals: ruminants including sheep, cattle, deer, camelids and goats. It is transmitted by the movement of midges or by movements of infected animals if they are subsequently bitten by midges.

Defra has been working in close partnership with the industry to develop the Bluetongue Control Strategy and has jointly been involved in raising awareness of this disease.

Further information at www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/diseases/notifiable/bluetongue/index.htm

The Consultants-E are very pleased to announce that registration for their online Sept – Dec courses is now open, and that they are offering a 10% discount to all English UK members on the fees for any of the following 4 – 10 week courses:

- E-moderation: 1 – 31 October
- Learn to use Moodle:  1 October – 30 November
- ICT in the Classroom: 1 October  - 16 December
- NEW! Teaching Business English 15 November  - 15 December

See http://www.theconsultants-e.com/courses/ for full details on content and learning outcomes for each course, fees, tutoring, past participant feedback etc. Please also note that the Consultants-E will be offering face-to-face courses as part of this year’s English UK training programme.

See our website for more details: www.englishuk.com/training.
 

The LTM (Language Travel Magazine) star awards as voted for by the general public and industry peers  has voted English UK as their Language Association of the Year.