Bluetongue Disease Outbreak in Belgium: Tips for Farmers and Authorities

Bluetongue Disease outbreak in Belgium

Belgium is currently facing a severe outbreak of Bluetongue disease , with a stagger 1,192 case detect just stopping_point week . This viral disease , convey via midge , is fatal for livestock and has cause significant concern for the state 's food system . While not harmful to world , the virus airs a serious menace to animal such as sheep , cattle , and even alpacas.

The Federal Agency for Food Chain Security ( Afsca ) has been actively monitoring the situation , coverage a sharp addition in case compare to the previous week . The outbreak initially look in several state , include Antwerp , Liège , and Limburg , with a sum of 200 , 171 , and 156 case respectively . In addition , other region such as Namur , Hainaut , Luxembourg , and Walloon Brabant have also report infections.

Afsca is goad farmer to return preventive measure such as inoculating all animal to curb the spread of the disease . So far , hundred of sheep , cattle , goat , and alpaca have been infect , with only 1,500 alpaca record in the state harmonize to Statbel figure . The agency predict a continue rise in case until the end of September or early October when temperature drop below 10C , rendition the touch inactive.

challenge confront by farmer and Authorities

The first outbreak of Bluetongue in Belgium was report on a sheep farm in Merksplas , Antwerp , in October 2023 . Since then , the disease has claim the life of an estimate 11,000 sheep and 6,000 cattle , putt huge pressure on the farming community and government . Rendac , the company responsible for cleaning and processing animal carcase , has see a significant rush in demand due to the rise in animal death cause by the virus.

Despite the challenge , Rendac continue to work tirelessly , even on weekend and populace vacation , to pull_off the increase number of carcase . The company has witness a four to quintuple addition in sheep and double the number of cattle carcase compare to convention weekly consumption . Fortunately , the disease does not airs a hazard to populace health , as the carcase are convert into renewable fuel through high - temperature processing.

As Belgium grapnel with the repercussion of the Bluetongue outbreak , farmer and government are working together to incorporate the spread of the virus and protect livestock from foster injury . By implement preventive measure and closely monitoring the situation , they purpose to extenuate the impact of the disease on the state 's agricultural sector.