We are currently unable to import any unpasteurised cheese from France and Italy due to an outbreak of Lumpy Skin Disease… But what is this blight upon our continental cheesy friends?

Lumpy Skin Disease is caused by an infection in cattle or water buffalo. It is a virus that was first described in Zambia in 1929 and it has since spread throughout Africa, the Middle East and parts of Europe. We have never had a case of it here in the UK, and let’s hope it stays that way.

According to DEFRA (the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)lumpy skin disease is spread by biting flies and mosquitoes. They can carry the infection to other animals after feeding on the skin lesions of infected animals. It can also be spread through infected germinal products (bovine semen, ova and embryos). It does not spread to people or affect food safety. To me this implies that it is not spread by milk or indeed cheese but anyway…

The UK Government has imposed a ban on any raw milk cheeses that were made after the 23rd May 2025. This means that we do not have any Brie de Meaux PDO, Camembert de Normandie PDO or Livarot PDO in our counter and we have almost sold out of our Tomme de Savoie PDO. We have managed to source some pasteurised alternatives and so we do have some amazing Camembert in at the moment and our Brie des Morins has proven itself to be very popular with our customers.

Hopefully the ban will be lifted soon but please accept our apologies if your cheese of choice isn’t available!