The bluetongue outbreak not only leads to many deaths among sheep. On average, more than 25% of the animals on infected farms succumb. Since the virus emerged in the Netherlands at the beginning of September, more than 50,000 sheep have died from it. That is more than 5% of the national sheep herd. The outbreak also affects subsequent generations. Because infected animals are often so sick that their fertility suffers. Bluetongue can endanger the survival of small breeds.
Bluetongue affects all sheep breeds. However, one breed appears to be more sensitive to it than the other, although this cannot yet be stated with certainty. The varieties originally from Africa have a higher resistance to various bluetongue variants. In addition, some people assume that certain breeds are more cloudy and therefore less likely to be stung by midges. Living conditions may also be important. Heathland sheep, for example, generally live on drier sandy soils. It could be that there are fewer midges there and therefore less risk of infection.
Some Dutch sheep breeds, such as the marlland sheep, only have a few hundred animals. If 30% of them die, that will be a huge blow. Moreover, the Netherlands has not yet got rid of the virus. If there is no vaccine yet when the disease flares up again this spring, high mortality is likely to occur again. There seems to be hardly any subclinical cases. This implies that animals only build up antibodies when they become ill. And sick animals have a 70% risk of dying from it. That scenario can cause major problems for small breeds.
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2023-12-21 09:18:12
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