The director general of Agriculture, Fernando Fernández, stresses the complexity of the situation throughout Spain since up to five different serotypes of the disease are circulating, with several communities having up to four at the same time.

He also recalls that, at the moment, bluetongue is one of the main concerns of the European Union in terms of animal health.

The Government, through the Directorate General for Agriculture, Livestock and Rural Development, has reached a collaboration agreement with the Basque Country, Navarre, Catalonia and Aragon, communities also affected by bluetongue serotype 8, to unify criteria for the movement of livestock. In this sense, the director general Fernando Fernández stressed that ‘with the extremely complex situation that all the communities affected by the disease are experiencing, it is important that the territories affected by the same serotype coordinate strategies with several objectives; to avoid the spread of the disease in other territories, to establish common criteria for the movement of livestock (especially live cattle) and, whenever possible, to facilitate the daily lives of affected farmers with reasonable flexibility measures’.

TDB keeps you informed. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

The Balearic Islands, along with the other four communities affected by bluetongue serotype 8, have reached an agreement to unify criteria for the movement of livestock.

Specifically, the agreement states that the suspended zones will be delimited according to territorial, provincial and county levels by the instructions of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAPA). Thus, the MAPA’s Table Agreement on the movement of livestock from a suspended zone to another free zone already establishes conditions according to the type of movement and age of the animals.

‘The objective is to unify criteria for movements between serotype 8 suspended zones. Because of the complexity of the situation, it is necessary to establish agreed conditions for livestock movements applicable to these movements. These conditions will be maintained until the end of the transition period established due to the lack of sufficient vaccine availability in certain communities or until the beginning of the seasonally vector-free period,’ explained Fernandez.

To minimise the risk of the disease spreading, two types of areas or sub-zones are differentiated at a regional level, depending on whether or not outbreaks have been detected or confirmed. Specifically, they are divided into areas (comarcas) with detected viral circulation, animals with unfavourable PCR test results; and areas (comarcas) with undetected viral circulation, animals with favourable PCR test results or no tests done.

Fernández pointed out that in just a few years we have gone from having a relatively controlled disease to an extremely complex situation. It is currently one of the main concerns of the European Union in terms of animal health. ‘We have 12 different serotypes of the virus, five of them circulating in Spain. Practically the whole of Spain has the disease in its territories, and there are even several communities that have up to four serotypes at the same time,’ said the director general.

Among the conditions for the movement of animals between the suspended areas of these communities, the vaccination schedule involves animals with the full vaccination schedule and revaccination if indicated according to the technical data sheet of the drug. The validity of the PCR will be ten days. Amongst other things, it affects the movements of steers destined for the fattening. In addition, disinsectisation of vehicles is required within 48 hours before movements.

Fernández insists that ‘this agreement has direct positive and immediate effects on our farmers. For example, this very week 230 young bulls are leaving Menorca for a feedlot in Aragon, a fact that has been made possible with far fewer formalities and controls because this collaboration agreement exists’. The Director General also emphasised that within the framework of an agreement of this type, other important actions can be promoted in the short and medium term, such as, for example, updating and rigorously analysing the effects of serotype 8 on the sheep population concerning its productive and economic impact, or putting forward a proposal for the incorporation of bluetongue in health claims in sheep insurance.

Lastly, Fernández told the sector that ‘we are passing the highest peak of the epidemic. From now on everything will start to improve, as vaccination will be slowing down the rate of infection and on 15th December the period of free circulation of the mosquito begins, declared by the Ministry this week’. In this sense, the next campaign will begin on 15 April: ‘We are sure that the number of new outbreaks will be much lower and the tasks will be maintenance,’ concluded the director general.