Santiago do Cacém, Portugal, Oct. 30, 2024 (Lusa) - The Alentejo coastal farmers' association warned on Wednesday that the bureaucracy involved in vaccinating animals against the new bluetongue serotype, whose authorisation takes “between two and three weeks,” could jeopardise the disease's control.
"As well as [the vaccine] being expensive, it takes a long time [to be administered] because the producer has to make a special authorisation request to the DGAV [General Directorate of Food and Veterinary] and only after this request has been authorised can the stockist dispense the vaccine," explained Brigite Martins, from the Alentejo coastal farmers" association.
Speaking to the Lusa news agency, she said that two or three weeks can pass between the request to the DGAV and the authorisation to apply the vaccine, which costs three euros.
"The producer is even interested in vaccinating the herd" to avoid losses, “but as long as this takes, the animals are already contaminated and end up giving up on the vaccine,” she said.
Brigite Martins gave Lusa the example of the ACOS—Farmers of the South association, based in Beja. At the peak of a very bad summer day, the association had 400 collections to make and now already had 2,000.
When asked about the spread of bluetongue disease in the Alentejo coastal region, she said that there are only "occasional cases" and some reports, mainly "in the Odemira area" in the Beja district.
"We're starting to see occasional cases, but they're more concentrated, and there are still few animals affected, which means that we don't yet have all of our livestock contaminated," she added.
However, he insisted, producers "are all waiting for the authorisations to come through so they can vaccinate, because we're talking about some with flocks of 5,000 sheep".
"The vaccine has to be quicker so that as soon as we have the first contaminated sites, we can get round to vaccinating all the flocks straight away," he concluded.
Bluetongue, which is not transmissible to humans, must be declared, and farms where the disease is confirmed are prevented from moving animals for 60 days.
Gaining ground in the Alentejo, bluetongue disease is decimating herds and has already killed thousands of animals, causing losses for farmers, who complain of a lack of support.
The Confederation of Portuguese Farmers (CAP) has already called for urgent government intervention, while the National Confederation of Agriculture (CNA) has called for a free animal vaccination campaign and extraordinary support for producers.
HYN/ADB // ADB.
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