About one in eight sheep farmers in the Netherlands have to deal with dead animals due to the bluetongue virus, the Dutch Sheep and Goat Breeders Organization (NSFO) reported last week. The supply of dead animals continued to increase at carcass processing company Rendac. The virus has also been raging in the Westland region for some time.
About one in eight sheep farmers in the Netherlands have to deal with dead animals due to the bluetongue virus, the Dutch Sheep and Goat Breeders Organization (NSFO) reported last week. The supply of dead animals continued to increase at carcass processing company Rendac. The virus has also been raging in the Westland region for some time.
The Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA), part of the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality, keeps track of the number of cases of bluetongue, but not all suspected cases of bluetongue are officially reported. When asked how many cases there are in the practice, veterinarian Frank van Eijk of De Delta veterinary clinic in Maasland replied in mid-October: “There are positive cases throughout the region. We assume that it already plays a role in our entire area, so to be honest I can’t keep track exactly anymore.”
Increase
The first official case in Westland was confirmed by the NVWA on October 16. At that time, there were also officially confirmed cases of the bluetongue virus in Delft (1), Maassluis (1) and Schipluiden (3) in our region. That number is still increasing. For owners of animals affected by it, the agony is intense to watch.
The latest figures from NVWA, published on November 6, show that positive cases of bluetongue have now also been diagnosed in Naaldwijk and ‘s-Gravenzande (clinically, so visually). In Schipluiden, four animals have now tested positive with a PCR test, and one clinically. Two cases are also officially known in Schiedam.
Nationally, at least 30,000 sheep had already died from the bluetongue virus at the beginning of this month.
Tags: number cases bluetongue Westland region continues increase
