The number of confirmed cases of Schmallenberg Virus (SBV) continues to grow in Europe and the UK.

By the end of last week there, 2,622 cases had been confirmed across eight member states, according to the Flutrackers website.

Germany is the worst affected, with 1, 061 cases, followed by France (894), Belgium (255), the UK (209) and the Netherlands (194), with Luxembourg, Italy and Spain recording nine cases between them.

By Monday, the number of cases confirmed in the UK had risen 223 farms, with 20 cases diagnosed in cattle and 203 in sheep.

The proportion of cases in cattle, as anticipated by scientists, is rising. The overall proportion of cases in sheep compared to cattle stands at approximately 11 to one. But in the past two weeks there have been 39 cases recorded in sheep, compared with eight in cattle, a ratio of less than five to one.

The Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency (AHVLA) maintains that SBV infection has still only been identified in areas predicted to be at risk of midge incursion from Northern Europe during summer and autumn of 2011.

But it says transmission by domestic midges during that period cannot be ruled out.

“Domestic midges may have been infected after biting a local animal infected last summer after incursion of continental midges,” the agency said.