LUSA 10/31/2024

Lusa - Business News - Portugal: Government to step up support, plan to combat bluetongue disease

Lisbon, Oct. 30, 2024 (Lusa) - Portugal's ministry of agriculture is preparing to step up support for producer organisations in the face of bluetongue disease and will invest in a disinsection plan to stop the spread, it told Lusa.

"The Ministry of Agriculture has been working on a plan to reinforce prevention and support for producer organisations since the first case of serotype three of bluetongue disease appeared, with the aim of preventing the spread," the ministry said in response to Lusa.

In addition to reinforcing the annual subsidy given to producer organisations, Luís Montenegro's executive will invest in a national disinsection plan to stop the spread of the vector and the disease.

The ministry led by José Manuel Fernandes said that this plan will make it possible to prevent the spread of bluetongue serotype three, but also of other diseases transmitted by insects, such as bovine haemorrhagic disease.

The government has not revealed when this plan will go ahead.

The bluetongue disease has already affected at least 279 cattle and sheep farms, mainly in Évora and Beja, and has caused the death of 1,775 animals, according to figures made available to Lusa by the Ministry of Agriculture.

Bluetongue is a compulsorily notifiable disease, but according to the government, notifications have only arrived with information on livestock, subject to sampling.

The latest data available, reported on Monday, shows that 41 cattle farms have been affected, with 102 animals affected and no deaths.

In the case of sheep, there are 238 farms and 11,934 animals affected and 1,775 dead.

By district, Évora stands out, with 90 farms affected, and Beja, with 76, followed by Setúbal (48) and Portalegre (20).

These figures relate to the number of livestock farms confirmed positive for BTV-3, the bluetongue serotype first detected on 13 September.

"Although the weather forecast for the coming weeks, a drop in temperature, will contribute decisively to a reduction in the number of insects of the genus 'culicoides' - biological vectors for transmitting the disease - which will consequently reduce the risk of infection between animals, the Ministry is working to support sheep producers in Portugal," it added, without further details.

Asked if the state is considering paying for the entire vaccine against bluetongue, the Ministry of Agriculture said that, as an extraordinary measure, it had approved the reinforcement of the annual subsidy by one million euros for the purchase of the vaccine.

Bluetongue is an infectious viral disease that cannot be transmitted to humans.

Three serotypes of bluetongue are circulating in Portugal, namely BTV-4, which first appeared in 2004 and was detected again in 2013 and 2023, BTV-1, identified in 2007, with outbreaks until 2021, and BTV-3.

 

PE/AYLS // AYLS

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