The number of outbreaks of bluetongue serotype 3 has almost tripled in France in a week, with 1,929 outbreaks confirmed as of September 12 in 22 departments, mainly in the northeastern part of the country, the Ministry of Agriculture announced on Friday.
The recorded cases occurred in Aisne, Ardennes, Aube, Cher, Doubs, Eure-et-Loir, Haute-Marne, Haute-Saône, Loiret, Marne, Meurthe-et-Moselle, Meuse, Moselle, Nièvre, Nord, Oise, Orne. , Pas-de-Calais, Saône-et-Loire, Sarthe, Somme and Yonne, according to a new assessment of the disease called “bluetongue”, published on the ministry’s website.
Since its first detection in France at the beginning of August, in the north of France, this viral disease, transmitted by mosquitoes, has spread rapidly. Cases have recently been detected in Saône-et-Loire and in Orne. Last week, 712 outbreaks were recorded.
Large-scale vaccination campaign
To curb the effects of the disease, which is not transmissible to humans, the French government announced on 30 August that it was ordering 5.3 million additional doses against FCO 3, in addition to the 6.4 million doses already ordered. These will be provided free of charge to breeders in the affected regions.
Before the appearance of FCO 3, French breeders had been dealing with FCO 4 and 8 serotypes for several years. However, FCO 8 has seen renewed activity in recent weeks in the south of France, thanks to the appearance of a new variant. There is a separate vaccine for FCO 3, which was covered by the State from 2008 to 2018, but it is no longer covered for this epizootic, now considered endemic in France.
Source: BFM TV
