The number of livestock farms with suspected bluetongue among the animals has risen to more than 2,250. That is double the number at the beginning of October.
The infection has been confirmed at almost 1,500 companies, and at 770 there is a serious suspicion that the disease has broken out. This is evident from a daily update from the Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA).
At the beginning of October, the counter still stood at around 1,100 companies. Only in the provinces of Limburg and Zeeland no infection has yet been reported at a company.
Bluetongue is spread by a small fly, the so-called midge, and mainly affects sheep. Cows can also get the disease, but are less likely to die from it.
In animals that are very sick, the tongue turns blue. They also have a high fever, drool, walk lame and have a rounded back. The disease is not transmissible to humans. Unlike bird flu, animals that become ill do not have to be culled.
The first reports of bluetongue infections this year came in September from the municipalities of Wijdemeren in North Holland and Stichtse Vecht in Utrecht. The reports of suspicious and positive locations mainly come from the center of the Netherlands, North Holland and Friesland.
2023-10-18 18:36:57
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