2023-10-15 14:33:26
Cattle can also catch this disease and, although Belgium does not export sheep, around 100,000 live cattle cross the borders each year to other European countries.
Today, exports are at a standstill. “This situation comes at a bad time since we are at the end of the grazing period and it is a season when, traditionally, more animals are marketed“, explains Benoit Cassart, general secretary of the FNCB. “While Belgium exports around 1 in 4 cattle, a sudden and long interruption in export flows would have dramatic consequences on prices.“, he warns.
The authorities must establish protocols with their European counterparts in order to establish conditions allowing a resumption of trade, insists Mr. Cassart. The FNCB also encourages breeders to protect their animals by covering them with an insecticide, given that the fever is transmitted by midges.
Some countries, such as Italy, accept animals subject to a treatment certificate established by a veterinarian. Bluetongue serotype 3, also called bluetongue disease, arrived regarding a month ago in the Netherlands where it is spreading at high speed. “It is a more aggressive variant than what we have known so far, with a significant mortality rate among sheep, with cattle being more spared,” says Mr. Cassart.
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