LONDON (Reuters) -
The first batch of 1 million doses of
bluetongue vaccine has been delivered and is ready to be
distributed, Britain's farm ministry said on Wednesday.

Britain's first ever case of the bluetongue virus, a
disease which can be highly dangerous to sheep and cows, was
reported in eastern England in September 2007.

“Vaccination offers the only realistic prospect of
controlling bluetongue. Supplies will build up over the summer
and so I want to encourage farmers and veterinarians to order
and use the vaccine,” Alick Simmons, Acting Chief Veterinary
Officer, said in a statement.

The vaccine is supplied by Intervet UK, owned by American
drugmaker Schering Plough.

Britain's farm ministry announced in December it was
placing an order with Intervet for 22.5 million doses of the
vaccine. At that time, no suitable vaccine was available for
the strain of the virus circulating in England.

“I am very pleased with the rapid progress that Intervet
has made to develop and produce this new vaccine ahead of
schedule and in a very tight timescale,” Farm Minister Hilary
Benn was quoted as saying in the statement.

(Reporting by Nigel Hunt; editing by Chris Johnson)