The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has recommended the "approval" of two new vaccines to protect against bluetongue disease.

The vaccines Bluevac-3 and Syvazul BTV 3 are recommended to protect sheep while Bluevac-3 is also approved for use in cattle.

According to the EMA there are a number of different types of bluetongue virus.

The agency said: "These vaccines are shown to protect against the newly emerged serotype-3 bluetongue virus (BTV3), responsible for recent outbreaks in Europe, and against which vaccines currently approved at EU wide-level show little protection.

According to the EMA both the Bluevac-3 and Syvazul BTV 3 vaccines contain an "inactivated" form of BTV3.

"Both are available as ready-to-use suspensions for injection and contain adjuvants to help stimulate the immune response," it stated.

The EMA has also detailed that the efficacy of Bluevac-3 was investigated in two studies comparing the protection against the disease in vaccinated and unvaccinated lambs and calves.

"In both species, after two doses of the vaccine given 21 days apart, the vaccinated animals showed a reduction in the amount of virus in the blood," it said.

Lambs also showed a decrease in the severity of symptoms and in mortality.

According to the agency the efficacy of Syvazul BTV 3 was assessed through two studies in vaccinated sheep exposed to the virus.

"These showed a reduction in the amount of virus in the blood, in disease symptoms and mortality," the EMA stated.

Bluetongue is an infectious disease that affects wild and domestic ruminants including sheep, goats and cattle.

It is caused by a virus which is transmitted by certain species of biting midges and can spread through herds and across different species.

According to the EMA the disease severity "varies for different animals" and is worst in sheep, and can be fatal.