Blue tongue disease continues to spread
Authorities in western Sweden on Monday morning discovered the latest in a series of cases of animals infected with blue tongue disease at a farm in Halland.
The Swedish Board of Agriculture has identified nineteen confirmed cases since the first reports on Saturday of two infected animals in a livestock herd on a farm 10 kilometres outside the town of Halmstad.
The disease has been discovered in twelve head of cattle and seven sheep on a total of six farms in Halmstad municipality.
The Agriculture Board has implemented restrictive measures in a large area around the farms.
First, a 20-kilometre radius restrictive area has been set up around the affected farms within which animals cannot be moved. By Tuesday evening the Agriculture Board expects to have vaccinated a total of 25,000 animals within this zone.
In addition, a 150-kilometre radius protective area has also created within which existing animals are free to move, but beyond which they cannot be taken.
Blue tongue disease affects cattle, sheep, and goats, but not humans. There is no danger in consuming meat and milk from affected animals.
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The Swedish Board of Agriculture has identified nineteen confirmed cases since the first reports on Saturday of two infected animals in a livestock herd on a farm 10 kilometres outside the town of Halmstad.
The disease has been discovered in twelve head of cattle and seven sheep on a total of six farms in Halmstad municipality.
The Agriculture Board has implemented restrictive measures in a large area around the farms.
First, a 20-kilometre radius restrictive area has been set up around the affected farms within which animals cannot be moved. By Tuesday evening the Agriculture Board expects to have vaccinated a total of 25,000 animals within this zone.
In addition, a 150-kilometre radius protective area has also created within which existing animals are free to move, but beyond which they cannot be taken.
Blue tongue disease affects cattle, sheep, and goats, but not humans. There is no danger in consuming meat and milk from affected animals.
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