Livestock farmers in north Suffolk and south Norfolk are feeling stressed and worried after their animals were placed under movement restrictions this week.

Government vets have imposed a 20km temporary control zone (TCZ) after Bluetongue virus BTV3 was found in one sheep at a site near Haddiscoe. It's the second time in recent months that Bluetongue has been found in the area.

It means that farmers will have to apply for a licence to move their cattle out of the zone - a large area which stretches from just north of Halesworth to the Norfolk and Suffolk Broads and takes in Bungay, Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth.

Belted Galloways on Nicola Chapman's farm (Image: Sonya Duncan) Farmers fear restrictions are unlikely to be lifted quickly - which means potential headaches moving their animals off summer grazing land or to be sold in the autumn.

Nicola Chapman, who farms at Carr Farm at Burgh St Peter near Beccles, previously grazed her Belted Galloway herd at Suffolk Wildlife Trust's Carlton and at Oulton Marshes - but decided to act before the restrictions announced on Monday.

She moved her cattle off the marshes after getting caught in a previous restriction zone around Haddiscoe in January/February. She found the testing regime onerous - with the two blood tests taking out the whole of her day.

"It was a nightmare to be honest," she said. "This last year has just been awful. It's really stressful to be honest. You just want to get on and do the job and want the welfare of the animals to be at the forefront."

(Image: Sonya Duncan)

She added: "It's quite disheartening. I talk to a lot of farmers in this area and a lot are thinking: 'Do I want to continue?' When we were caught up in it in February it was the first time I thought: 'Do I really want to do this?' The stress of it is huge."

She was at the Aylsham Show on Monday with a handful of her animals when the news broke of the latest case. 

"We are obviously at the start of something. We know it's really bad in Europe. The fact it's come back to Haddiscoe suggests midges surviving over the winter," she said.

"Of course we are worried because if you get the disease potentially you could lose animals."

As warnings grew of the latest Bluetongue threat she has also reduced her herd size from about 100 to 80 to reduce her exposure to risk.

She sells her pedigree breeding stock all around the country - with some animals going for meat.

(Image: Sonya Duncan)

"It's going to hit everyone trying to move their animals off their summer grazing and also those wanting to sell their cattle in the autumn," she said.

"We have only got about 80 at the moment. We would be happier if we had less to be honest."

Matthew Cawston keeps around 250 cattle after he and dad John reluctantly decided to sell their 100-strong dairy herd in June this year.

The farmer - based at Hill House Farm, Woodton, near Bungay - keeps breeding Holsteins and some beef cattle as well as running a 500-acre arable operation.

Matthew Cawston (Image: Lucy Taylor)

He was busy with his spring barley harvest this week and said the movement restrictions meant "just more paperwork".

"We have not got a vaccine so we have just got to live with it - it's a bit like Covid," he said.

He has animals grazing on the island at Haddiscoe, he added.

"A lot of them are there. We need to find out what we can and can't do. Like everything with DEFRA (the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) you can't get any sensible answer," he said.

"It's just another thing for the industry to try and kill the farm industry off."

An outbreak on the Continent was likely to spread to the UK, government vets warned, with Suffolk, Essex, Kent and Norfolk at high risk.

The disease carriers (or vectors) - midges - can be blown across the Channel and infect animals in the UK.

The latest infected sheep at Haddiscoe was the first case detected during the 2024/25 vector season.

Livestock farmers are being asked to remain vigilant and monitor their animals for any sign of disease. Free testing is available for animals moving out of the zone, government vets said. There was a "high risk" of onward spread in the UK, government officials warned.

UK Deputy Chief Veterinary Officer Ele Brown said: "Bluetongue does not pose a threat to human health or food safety, but the disease can impact livestock farms, and cause productivity issues."

She added that the impact on susceptible animals - cattle, goats, sheep, goats, deer and camelids such as llamas and alpacas - can vary greatly.

Some exhibit no signs of disease while others can suffer reduced milk yield. In the most severe cases, the illness can be fatal.

Bluetongue does not affect people, and meat and milk from infected animals are safe to eat and drink.

BTV is a notifiable disease. Suspicion of BTV in animals in England must be reported to the Animal and Plant Health Agency on 03000 200 301