The Ministry of Agriculture Council confirmed this Tuesday that a focus of blue tongue in the province of Huelva, the first in Andalusia. The regional government will begin vaccinating and administering vaccines to affected herds this Wednesday after acquiring 970,000 doses for one million euros. The outbreak detected in Andalusia corresponds to serotype 3 of this disease. Two other outbreaks were detected in Extremadura.
Bluetongue is a non-contagious viral disease that affects domestic and wild ruminants, mainly sheep, but also cattle and goats (as well as buffalo, antelopes, deer, elk and camelids), which do not present normally no clinical signs of the disease. disease and can act as carriers.
Like West Nile virus, it is transmitted through mosquito bites, in this case from certain species of the genus. Culicoides. 24 different serotypes have been identified, although the capacity of each strain varies greatly between species, with more severe symptoms in sheep leading to death, weight loss and cessation of wool growth. In very susceptible sheep, morbidity can reach up to 100%. Average mortality is between 2 and 30% but can reach 70%, according to the World Organization for Animal Health (WHO).
It was first described in South Africa. Bluetongue outbreaks in Cyprus in 1943 caused between 60 and 70% losses in some flocks, and the outbreak in the Iberian Peninsula in 1956 caused the deaths of 46,000 sheep in Portugal and 133,000 in Spain.
Transmission of the virus can occur throughout the year, particularly during rainy periods. . The incubation period is 5 to 10 days. The disease has been detected in the semen of bulls and rams and can be transmitted to susceptible cows and sheep, but is not an important transmission mechanism. The virus can also be transmitted to the fetus through the placenta, but it is not transmitted through contact with animals or wool or through drinking milk.
Message of tranquility from the Council
The Andalusian councilor wanted to send a message of calm to “everyone” – farmers, distribution chains and consumers – and clarified that “Andalusia has been working for some time in collaboration with the Ministry (of Agriculture)” .
“We have acquired 970,000 vaccines. “We are working in collaboration with the Extremadura region and the Spanish government and we hope that everything will be controlled and everything will be fine,” he noted. Fernández-Pacheco also clarified that they were going to meet with the livestock sector of Huelva and Andalusia to “explain what the situation is”.
“We anticipated the statement made today by the Ministry of Focus in Huelva. We have already acquired 970,000 vaccines in addition to the 150,000 that the ministry sent us. And tomorrow, without further delay, we will start vaccinating to contain this disease and prevent it from spreading to other territories”, he stressed. However, he hopes that the cold will arrive soon so that the virus stops circulating and does not spread to more parts of the country.
As he explained, the emphasis was on Portugal and the first case in Andalusia took place in a municipality close to the border. The ministry maintains a monitoring system with regional agrarian offices and livestock defense associations.
“We are all monitoring the situation. We have perfectly monitored the territory and we hope that this preventive action and this anticipation of the Junta de Andalucía, by purchasing and applying the vaccines, will be enough to contain it,” he concluded.
