NOSS Sheep farmer takes care of sheep with bluetongue
NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 17:52
The vaccine against bluetongue that has been provisionally authorized in South Africa is now not permitted in the Netherlands. That writes outgoing minister Adema of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality (LNV) to the House of Representatives. The Veterinary Medicines Agency advises the minister against allowing it due to safety risks and doubts about the efficacy of the vaccine, on which hopes were initially placed.
The bluetongue virus that makes ruminants sick has now run out 1767 locations established in the Netherlands. Adema says he wants to hurry with a vaccine, because vaccination is the only way out of the outbreak. He speaks with various pharmaceutical companies and had the Veterinary Medicines Agency assess the ‘South African’ vaccine.
Strange viruses
The Veterinary Medicines Agency now advises against this vaccine. The assessors cannot rule out that the vaccine contains pathogens and they are not sure that the ‘inactivated’ virus particles that are supposed to induce protection cannot cause disease. In other words: there is a chance that the vaccine will spread new viruses or other bluetongue variants. The agency also finds it unclear how well and for how long the vaccine protects.
The negative advice is partly due to incomplete information about the vaccine. The Veterinary Medicines Agency has requested additional information from the manufacturer and if necessary, the assessors will revise their advice.
“I understand that this is a tough message for animal keepers. Like them, I also want to be able to vaccinate responsibly as quickly as possible to limit the suffering of the animals,” Minister Adema writes. “I therefore remain fully committed to the development of a European vaccine.”
Midge season
Yet a vaccine would have made little difference this autumn, thinks the expert group on animal diseases, which advises the minister. The experts previously expressed the expectation that the virus will have spread throughout the country before the winter. At the same time, they expect that the activity of midges, the mosquitoes that spread the virus, will decrease due to the falling temperature. Vaccination would provide complete protection against the virus after about 7 to 8 weeks, and by then the midges will probably spread the virus much less than they do now.
A good vaccine can prevent many problems in the spring, the minister expects. He hopes that a safe and effective vaccine will be available in the spring. That is why he continues his conversations with pharmaceutical companies.
Business risk
A ministry spokesperson previously announced that the government will not invest in the development of vaccines and will not purchase vaccines. “That is up to the market. Animal diseases such as bluetongue are part of the business risk. We can ensure that a vaccine that is safe and effective can be used.”
It is not clear how many animals have died from bluetongue so far. The animal diseases expert group has informed the minister that it appears as if the variant of bluetongue that is currently circulating (so-called serotype 3) causes more symptoms than the variant that circulated in the Netherlands between 2006 and 2009 (serotype 8). Bluetongue has now also appeared in Belgium.
2023-10-12 15:52:53
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