Policy Sections
Mini Sections
Cases of Bluetongue, a cattle disease common in southern Europe, have been found as far north as the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.
Bluetongue
is a non-contagious viral disease of ruminants, which affects mainly sheep but also cattle, goats, buffalo and deer. The disease is spread by midges
(flying, biting insects), which feed on animal and human blood. Bluetongue is common in southern Europe, especially in Italy and Spain. Animal symptoms are high fever, excessive salivation and swelling of the lips and tongue, which gives the tongue a blue appearance. There is no treatment for the disease, but a vaccine is available.
Council Directive 2000/75/EC
on the control and eradication of Bluetongue lays down specific provisions for movement restrictions, vaccination and import controls. The EU reference laboratory for Bluetongue is the Institute for Animal Health in Pirbright
.
There are as yet no reports of human cases of Bluetongue, and experts say there is no risk of transmission through consumption of meat or milk.
The Dutch authorities informed the Commission, on 18 August 2006, of an outbreak of Bluetongue in Kerkrade, an area close to the Belgian and German borders. A few days later, German and Belgian authorities confirmed cases of Bluetongue in their territories, near the Dutch border.
The situation was discussed by member states' veterinary experts in the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health (SCFCAH) on 21 August 2006. A decision was taken, in line with Directive 2000/75 on the control and eradication of Bluetongue, defining a 150 kilometre surveillance zone covering most of the Netherlands and Belgium, all of Luxembourg and areas in the German Lander of North Rhine Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland and Hessen. In addition, 20 kilometre standstill zones have been established around the infected farms.
The member states are invited to apply the protection measures immediately, even though the Commission still needs to formally approve the SCFCAH decision.
To reduce the spread of midges that carry the disease, farmers close to the infected areas have been instructed to spray insecticide.
Authors of an article entitled "Climate change and the recent emergence of Bluetongue in Europe", published in Nature Reviews Microbiology (3/2005) suggest that the unprecedented spread of the disease further north in Europe "has been driven by recent changes in the European climate that have allowed increased virus persistence during winter".
The spread of Bluetongue further north could thus be due to global warming.
CORDIS News also suggests that the spread of the virus to northern Europe could be due to the very hot July weather this year. The summer period could have sustained the necessary conditions for survival of the midges and viral replication.
(21 August 2006) [FR]
[DE]
(21 August 2006)
(21 August 2006)
(18 August 2006)
(20 November 2000) [FR]
[DE]
An article by Bethan V. Purse, Philip S. Mellor, David J. Rogers, Alan R. Samuel, Peter P. C. Mertens & Matthew Baylis (2005)
(21 August 2006)
Bulgaria
Czech Republic
France
Hungary
Poland
Romania
Slovakia
Turkey
Del.icio.us
Digg It
Technorati
Europeans challenge Europe