The state will cover the veterinary costs of vaccines given to animals suspected of having bluetongue, in the hope of stemming the epidemic.

Three outbreaks of bluetongue of the new serotype 3 were confirmed on Monday in northern France, while the animal epidemic began in the Netherlands in September 2023.

Measures to counter “bluetongue disease”. Veterinary visits to animals suspected of having bluetongue (BT), to detect or vaccinate them, are financially covered by the State, as well as laboratory analyses, confirms a decree published in the Official Journal on Sunday 11 August, on the eve of the start of a vast vaccination plan. BT, fatal to sheep, known as “bluetongue disease”, also affects cattle, but with a much lower mortality rate, or sometimes deer. Its detection does not lead to the euthanasia of animals, unlike avian flu.

“The State is responsible for the following operations carried out by health veterinarians: visits to suspect animals and to the establishment aimed at diagnosing bluetongue, the actions necessary for treating clinical suspicion, the census of animals present on the establishment, the prescription of health measures to be respected, the visit report and the corresponding certificates” specifies the order. The cost of analyses carried out in an approved laboratory for samples is also covered by the State.

Following the confirmation of three outbreaks of bluetongue of the new serotype 3 in northern France, the Ministry of Agriculture announced on Friday that the vaccination campaign would begin on Monday, for which it “provides 6.4 million doses of vaccines free of charge”The disease, which is not transmissible to humans, has been present for years in France by serotypes 4 and 8 (in Corsica and mainland France). Vaccines already existed for these serotypes, but thousands of unvaccinated sheep have died in recent weeks in the South.

This epizootic – or animal epidemic -, transmitted by biting insects, began in the Netherlands in September 2023. The virus then spread to Belgium, Germany and the United Kingdom in a few weeks. In Belgium and the Netherlands, the number of outbreaks has increased sharply in recent days, reaching 308 in Belgium, according to the Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain on Thursday. The first confirmed case in France was confirmed on Monday in Marpent, a few kilometers from Belgium.