News Archive – July to September 2008
7 September 2008
BTV-1 and BTV-8 found on the same farms in France
Both BTV-8 as well as BTV-1 are currently present in southwest France. On Tue 9 Sep 2008, both serotypes were found simultaneously on 2 farms.
The French Minister of Agriculture will now insist on EU co-financing BTV-1 vaccination.
About 11 000 cases of bluetongue have been confirmed in France so far this year.
The presence of two different serotypes on individual farms emphasises the need for vector control with an insecticide to reduce virus transmission.
August 2008
UK Institute Developing New Ways to Monitor Bluetongue-Transmitting Midges
The UK’s Institute for Animal Health is developing new ways to monitor the activity of bluetongue-transmitting Culicoides midges. Researchers are trapping and counting the insects and using computer models and weather predictions to gain a better understanding of how midges transmit bluetongue to livestock such as sheep and cattle. (AnimalPharm)