THE bluetongue disease that has hit a farm in East Anglia is unlikely to reach the North-East soon, a leading farmer believes.

David Maughan, a member of the North-East livestock board of the National Farmers' Union, thinks the disease will be restricted by upcoming cold weather.

Bluetongue, which was discovered on a farm near Ipswich, Suffolk, at the weekend, is spread by midge bites, but the midge season will end soon.

The disease, which normally affects sheep, has killed 1.8 million animals across Europe in the past decade. There is no known cure or vaccine, and symptoms include ulcers of the mouth, nose and eyes, followed by swelling of the head and internal bleeding.

Mr Maughan said: "On top of the recent foot-and-mouth outbreak, livestock farmers are sensitised anyway. Anything like this is not good news.

"I know a little about bluetongue because state vets have been flagging it up for a while. It has been on the Continent, so the east coast was always at risk.

"We should not start to get too alarmed this season. We are getting to the end of the midge season, but it can all depend on the weather.

"If it does get established down there, it is worrying. At the moment, I think we can get away with it for this season."

He said further restrictions on livestock movement could make a difficult summer worse.

"Farmers will be worried about restrictions being here even longer," said Mr Maughan, who farms near Darlington. "But that is for the vets to decide."

Debby Reynolds, the Government's chief veterinary officer, said it was vital that farmers remained vigilant and reported suspect cases.

A restriction zone has not yet been imposed.

MEP Neil Parish, the Tory chairman of the European Parliament's agriculture committee, said: "The chances of bluetongue being found in the UK have been increasing over recent years, but we all hoped we could get the current crisis out of the way before facing another.

"We will all be praying that this is just an isolated outbreak.

"This is rapidly turning into the summer from hell for British farmers."

The animal found to have the disease was a Highland cow on a farm at Baylham, near Ipswich. It has been put down.

Farmers are awaiting test results to see if the virus has spread.

If the results are positive, farmers could face more movement restrictions.

Bluetongue affects, cattle, goats, sheep and deer.

Humans cannot catch the disease.