IFAH-Europe
statement on bluetongue

Bluetongue is a viral disease that affects ruminants, especially sheep. It can
also affect cattle, goats, camels and wild ruminants. It has been named after
one of the symptoms that can occur in the animal, which is a bluish
coloration of the tongue.

Bluetongue does not affect people, nor is there any risk of the disease being
contracted or spread through meat or milk.

Sheep are particularly susceptible to the disease, with diverse symptoms.
Some sheep become seriously ill and die, while others exhibit hardly any
symptom at all. In most cases the first symptom is high fever, followed by
swelling and pain in and around the mouth, which in turn causes excessive
salivation.

The infection is often less damaging in cattle, which will exhibit milder if any
symptoms. However, productivity and reproduction can be severely
impacted.

Goats, camels, buffalos, deer and other wild ruminants can also become
infected and they generally display milder symptoms.

Bluetongue is not contagious as ruminants cannot directly infect one another.
It is transmitted exclusively by a very small insect (midge – Culicoides species),
which passes the virus by first biting an infected animal before biting an
uninfected one.

At present 24 types (serotypes) of the virus are recognised. The virulence and
mortality rate of the different virus strains vary considerably.

An newly emerging disease distribution pattern

Globally, the bluetongue disease is currently distributed between latitudes of
approximately 50° north and 34° south, but is known to be expanding into the
northern hemisphere.

In Europe bluetongue has been confirmed in sheep flocks in the Balearic
Islands, Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily, other parts of Italy, Spain, France and
Portugal.

As from 2006 Northern Europe has been affected by serotype 8, a new virus
type in the continent, which spread significantly in 2007. As from 14 January
2008 the restriction zone covers Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic,
Denmark, France, Germany, Luxemburg, the Netherlands, the United
Kingdom and Switzerland.

Vaccination against bluetongue

While it has proven impossible to eradicate disease-carrying midges,
vaccination against bluetongue has been successful in combating the
disease. Several animal health companies have developed vaccines against
various virus types, including serotype 8.

EU legislation on bluetongue contains the option of carrying out a
vaccination policy using live attenuated or inactivated vaccines. In late 2007
the European Commission announced their decision to co-fund new
bluetongue vaccination campaigns in the restriction zones identified in EU
member states, given the rapid spread of the disease in Europe in 2007. The
European Commission has committed to cover 100% of the costs of the
purchase of the vaccine and 50% of the administration costs.

The Commission has urged member states to complete the necessary
procedures and place orders for vaccines so that they can be ready to
vaccinate animals as necessary.

IFAH-Europe has been working hard to raise awareness with the EU institutions
and among other stakeholders of the need to plan vaccination ahead, as it is
foreseen that bluetongue will reoccur and spread further in Europe in 2008.
The animal health industry is of the view that a clear strategy on bluetongue
vaccination is necessary. This should encompass predictability and a timely
planning, as industry needs to know the demand envisaged by national
vaccination programmes to ensure and supply bluetongue vaccine doses on
time.

Development of vaccines and coordinating research

It takes normally 5 to 7 years to develop a new or improved vaccine serotype
in Europe at a cost of €6 million, according to available European data. IFAHEurope
and its members are striving to shorten the process and so increase
the availability of vaccines against new disease serotypes.

The European Technology Platform for Global Animal Health (ETPGAH), a
stakeholder-led initiative chaired by IFAH-Europe, is working on disease
prediction. The platform is currently setting up a disease information database
with the aim to analyse gaps in the ability to control disease and a better
coordination of research in Europe on vaccine development.

February 2008