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Schmallenberg virus (SbV) has now spread from england and Wales to Scotland. Two cases of the infection have been confirmed in Scottish flocks in the past two weeks, according to a national surveillance service. Sac consulting Veterinary Services (Sac c VS) said these are the first cases confirmed this winter and follow increased numbers of affected lambs reported in england and Wales (see box). The two affected flocks were close to Scotland’s border with england. It is difficult to predict how widespread infections will be but, despite this development, experts believe few ewes will have been infected by the virus. george caldow, head of Sac c VS, said there are some important indicators of the likely impact that SbV infection will have on Scottish livestock this spring. he said the virus was not detected in early lambing flocks or in all-year-round calving dairy herds in Scotland and this indicated that it was not present at peak midge season – late summer – and this made it less likely that lambs would be infected. ‘at the time of maximum midge activity in 2016 there was unlikely to have been SbV present in the midges in Scotland otherwise we would have seen cases in these two categories of animals.’ ‘The limited information we have to date suggests that the midge population in some parts of southern Scotland became infected in late autumn probably due to the gradual spread north of infected midges. because midge numbers progressively declined as winter approached, he said numbers would have been low in December and January, which was when the main about Schmallenberg virus