The Official State Gazette (BOE) has published an order from the Ministry of Agriculture to establish control measures in response to the recent detection of circulation, in the municipalities of Cheles and Alconchel (Badajoz), of the bluetongue virus serotype 3, a viral disease that affects sheep and cattle.
Specifically, the order (published on Tuesday, October 1 under the name of APA/1043/2024), establishes a restricted zone against serotype 3 of “approximately 150 kilometers around the detected outbreaks”, including “the control of movements of sensitive animals”.
Restricted areas against bluetongue virus
The annex to the order specifies the municipalities that are included in this zone: the regions of Azuaga, Badajoz, Don Benito, Jerez de los Caballeros, Mérida and Zafra (in the province of Badajoz); and the Valencia regions of Alcántara and Cáceres (in the province of Cáceres).
The order also includes within this restricted zone the province of Huelva and the regions of Cazalla de la Sierra (Sierra Norte), Cantillana (Vega de Sevilla) and Sanlúcar la Mayor (Poniente de Sevilla), in the province of Seville.
According to the Ministry, the appearance of this serotype“never detected in Spain”, makes it necessary to adopt urgent protection and control measures against it “to stop its dispersion in Spain, given its special importance due to its foreseeable impact on the livestock sector.”
The situation keeps the live animal transport sector in Extremadura on alert. A sector regulated by Royal Decree 990/2022, of November 29, and which is “a complex activity, both from a technical and logistical as well as an administrative point of view”, as described in the decree itself.
“A large number of operators are involved in it, which are often small companies, but can also be large corporations with very different characteristics,” adds the Royal Decree.
Vaccination to harm “as little as possible” the movement of livestock
The Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Sustainable Development, Mercedes Moránpointed out that he hopes that after the meeting between the Ministry of Agriculture and the autonomous communities involved (scheduled for October 1), “a protocol for making movements more flexible will emerge, because with this serotype 3, movements are now restricted.”
Along these lines, Morán stated that the Extremadura Government is working “to have this protocol as soon as possible,” and added that the declaration of the entire region as a bluetongue restricted zone“to facilitate livestock movements and make them more coherent.”
The Board has emphasized that “all necessary resources” will be provided to buy bluetongue vaccinesprecisely, “to harm livestock movements as little as possible, because those animals that are going to leave will be vaccinated first.”
“That is, those that the farmers are going to sell will be vaccinated, so that they can continue with their normal sales and, subsequently, as the vaccines are received, the inoculation of all sensitive animals will continue,” concludes the Board of Estremadura.
