Netherlands: Eradication of bluetongue virus serotype 3 not foreseen in the short term

This year, 6352 infections with bluetongue virus serotype 3 were detected at locations with ruminants. Of these, 4029 were detected in cattle, 2144 in sheep and 151 in goats. There are also 23 alpacas infected and occasionally a few animals of other species. Infections have also been reported in Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Denmark, Portugal, Switzerland, Austria, Sweden, Norway, the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom. The number of dead animals increased sharply during the summer period. At first, this mainly concerned sheep, but later also cattle. The total number per week in August was 4 to 5 times as high for sheep and 2 times as high for cattle, as what Rendac collected on average during this period in previous years. The figures for the past few weeks do show a decrease in the number of dead animals collected. This is decreasing most in sheep, the decrease has been visible for four weeks now, and a downward trend also seems to have started in cattle for a week ...