Martin Reitsma loses ten sheep a day to bluetongue. He had pinned his hopes on the South African vaccine against the cattle disease, but outgoing Agriculture Minister Piet Adema rejected the drug on Thursday.
According to Adema, there are still too many risks associated with this vaccine. This could possibly lead to the introduction of other viruses.
Reitsma doesn’t understand it. “Why can it be more than wool and net?” Although it only helps in a small way, it doesn’t matter at all.” The sheep farmer from Lippenhuizen has now lost seventy sheep to the livestock disease and fears for the survival of the By de hâ company that he runs with his wife Elsa.
They carry out grazing work for several municipalities with their 2,100 sheep. In the autumn and winter that work is done and they have to rely more on trade. Because they are now losing many sheep to bluetongue, this is under pressure.
Deformed
Reitsma fears the growth of lambs. Sheep that are sick can have deformed lambs. “It could just be that we have to say goodbye to five hundred sheep. That is a financial noose.”
He is seriously worried and feels powerless. “There are three families who live on this. It would be a shame if we couldn’t pull this off because of such a small rat.”
Until now, a vaccine was only available in South Africa for the current bluetongue variant, type three, in sheep. Adema urgently had it investigated whether this vaccine could also be used in the Netherlands, but that is not possible.
Winter
Moreover, according to him, there will soon be little point in vaccinating because winter is coming. When temperatures drop below 10 degrees, midges become less active and these are the mosquitoes that transmit the disease.
For several weeks now, the bluetongue virus has been spreading rapidly among ruminants. Nearly two thousand cases are now known. The majority of these concern sheep farms. Sheep can die from the disease. Furthermore, many livestock farms have also been affected. Cows become ill and produce less milk, but they do not die. Some infections in goats and alpacas are also known. In Friesland there are 136 cases.
2023-10-12 19:22:41
#Sheep #farmer #Martin #Reitsma #Lippenhuizen #rejected #bluetongue #vaccine #understand #neat #fan
