“Blue tongue disease”: what we know about the bluetongue that could threaten French livestock farms

Des cas graves dans certains élevages. Midi Libre – Illustration archives Sylvie Cambon

Les groupements de défense sanitaire des associations d’éleveurs ont rapporté des cas récents dans les Pyrénées-Orientales, l’Aude et l’Ariège.

France is preparing to deal with a new serotype of bluetongue (BTV), a virus that causes deaths among sheep, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, which intends to slow the spread of this viral disease transmitted by biting insects.

This Monday, the Belgian authorities declared an outbreak of bluetongue serotype 3 (BTV3) in the commune of Chimay, on the border with France.

This discovery led to the creation of a zone "regulated" from Pas-de-Calais to Moselle, where the movement of cattle, goats and sheep is subject to restrictions.

Animals "must have undergone pest control treatment in the two weeks prior to their departure and have obtained a negative screening test", state services specify, quoted by France 3.

“Serious clinical cases and high mortality”

FCO, also known as “blue tongue disease” and not transmissible to humans, is also present in France with serotypes 4 (in Corsica) and 8 (in mainland France).

The health defense groups of breeder associations have reported recent cases in the Pyrénées-Orientales, Aude and Ariège. They also mention, in the columns of Le Parisien, "serious clinical cases and high mortality".

600 000 vaccines

Serotype 8 is wreaking havoc among herds in the Pyrenees", the Peasant Confederation confirmed on Wednesday.

But "serotype 3 is a threat to the French sheep herd since it is a virus that induces clinical manifestations that can be quite significant", underlines the director of the animal health laboratory of the health agency Anses, Stéphan Zientara in Le Parisien.

The National Sheep Federation (FNO), a section of the FNSEA, specifies that 600,000 doses of vaccine have already been "reserved for the sheep sector" and invites breeders to "protect" the animals in this way.