There has been a sharp rise in cases of bluetongue virus in Germany this year, officials said Tuesday, raising fears about the disease that affects sheep and cattle across Europe.
According to Germany’s top animal disease research centre, the Friedrich Loeffler Institute, 1,885 outbreaks of bluetongue virus serotype 3 (BTV-3) have been recorded in the country since the beginning of 2024.
During the whole of 2023, only 23 outbreaks occurred.
“There has been a real wave since the beginning of July, hitting farms with vulnerable animals,” a spokeswoman for the institute told AFP.
The spokesperson said new cases were being reported every day and the outbreak could number more than 2,000 by Thursday.
The institute was unable to provide information on mortality rates.
Bluetongue is a non-contagious, insect-borne viral disease that affects ruminant animals such as cows and sheep, but not pigs or horses. Once the disease takes hold it is difficult to control.
It poses no threat to humans, but in animals it causes high fever, ulcers in the mouth and swelling in the head.
In Germany, farmers are not getting enough support to combat the disease through vaccination, as this responsibility falls on local authorities in the country’s 16 states.
According to the institute, the first outbreak of BTV-3 was recorded in Germany on October 12, 2023.
Since then, other outbreaks have been concentrated in the west and centre of the country, in the states of North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse and Lower Saxony.
The government has issued an emergency order to temporarily authorise three BTV-3 vaccines until official authorisation is received from the European Union.
Since October 2023, cases of bluetongue have also been reported in other countries, including the Netherlands and Belgium.
Recently, this disease has also hit France, causing concern among farmers.
According to the German institute, BTV-3 is particularly lethal to sheep, but it can also cause a significant drop in milk production in cows.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
