Vaccination did not protect cattle against bluetongue in the Netherlands

Dutch Agriculture Minister Femke Wiersma warns in a letter to the House of Representatives that animals on several farms have become ill or even died, even though they were vaccinated against bluetongue. Doubts about the effectiveness of the vaccine are therefore fully justified, reports the agricultural portal Boerderij. Infections despite vaccinations Information from the state veterinary service shows that suspicions of bluetongue disease currently concern 67 farms where animals have been vaccinated. Test results confirmed the appearance of the virus in 20 of them, and blood samples from 47 other farms are still being tested by the Wningen Bioveterary Research (WBVR) laboratories. Confirmed cases concern sheep and cattle farming. In vaccinated herds, animals still show signs of bluetongue, but the symptoms are less severe. However, one sheep died. Tests have already shown that they were infected with the same bluetongue virus that was revealed last year when the first cases ...