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The epidemic of "blue tongue disease" explodes in Europe

Like a "breaking wave", outbreaks of the new serotype of bluetongue (BT) are multiplying in several European countries.

Published on August 15, 2024

The new serotype 3 of the bluetongue virus was first detected in Europe in September 2023, in the Netherlands, before spreading to Belgium, Germany and the United Kingdom in the following months. But cases of this disease transmitted by a midge, also known as “bluetongue disease”, have multiplied in recent weeks on farms.

A virus arrived from the Netherlands

In the Netherlands, 2,909 outbreaks were recorded on Monday, according to the latest figures released by the Dutch Food and Consumer Safety Authority. This is 650 more than a week earlier, according to Dutch media.

In Germany, 1,885 outbreaks of this serotype had been recorded as of August 8 , the Friedrich-Loeffler Institute (FLI), Germany's leading animal health research organization, said on Tuesday. In 2023, only 23 had been recorded. "There has been a real wave that has been sweeping through farms with susceptible animals since the beginning of July," a spokesperson for the institute told AFP.

436 cases in one week in Belgium

In Belgium, 515 outbreaks were detected between June 1 and August 11, including 436 in a single week, according to the weekly report from the French ESA platform for epidemiological surveillance in animal health published on Tuesday.

The first cases were also confirmed in early August in France , Luxembourg and Denmark, according to the World Organisation for Animal Health. According to a report published on its website on Monday, five outbreaks were confirmed in the north of France. The French Ministry of Agriculture has decided to accelerate the implementation of the vaccination campaign .

Sometimes heavy losses

Bluetongue is manifested by fever, respiratory problems, a hanging tongue or even the loss of pregnant young and sometimes by the death of animals, in proportions varying from one farm to another. Mortality is very low in infected cattle, but can result in a massive drop in milk production.

Other serotypes of the disease have already been present for several years in Europe, with adequate vaccines but not always available or used by breeders. France has been dealing for several years with serotypes 4 and 8 of the FCO, which have killed thousands of sheep in recent weeks in the South.

For serotype 3, the French government has organized a vaccination campaign, with 6.4 million free doses, "in order to reduce its spread as much as possible," Stéphan Zientara, director of the animal health laboratory of the health agency Anses, told AFP. This vaccination begins this week. "We would like to prevent the sheep of Roquefort (in the south of France) from being confronted with this virus for the first time."

In the countries concerned, animal disease specialists "are on the alert," assures Stéphan Zientara. The expansion of this new serotype follows "a similar scenario" to other epizootics "such as serotype 8 of bluetongue in Northern Europe in 2006-2007 or the Schmallenberg virus in 2012." But "we are always a little surprised by the speed of its spread."

AFP