2023-10-23 17:23:13
How did the bluetongue virus suddenly end up in the Netherlands? Sieta van Keimpema, leader of Farmers Defense Force (FDF) and candidate MP for BVNL, has her suspicions. In a video message she targeted freight trains with Italian household waste on their way to the incinerator in Amsterdam.
A story that sounds quite plausible at first. After all, the Dutch infections concern serotype 3, a bluetongue variant that otherwise only occurs in Italy in Europe. And bluetongue is spread by midges: small mosquitoes that could well hide in a warm wagon full of vegetable, fruit and garden waste. Moreover, these waste trains enter Amsterdam from the southeast, exactly past the area where the first Dutch bluetongue cases appeared.
Yet that route of infection is virtually excluded, scientists from Wageningen Bioveterinary Research in Lelystad note. The variant present in the Netherlands is too different from the virus circulating in Italy. No link has also been found with Israel and South Africa, other countries where serotype 3 occurs. Where does the virus come from? That is difficult to find out. “We did not find this out exactly during the previous outbreak in 2006,” emphasizes epidemiologist Armin Elbers. He is currently investigating which midges exactly spread the virus.
In what ways could the virus have entered the Netherlands?
“Bluetongue always occurs in many countries in Southern Europe and Africa; The virus appears occasionally in the Netherlands. In 2006, for example, one of the possible explanations was that infected midges had arrived with roses grown in Kenya. This makes more routes possible. For example, there was also a major equestrian event in Aachen at the time; Midges can also come along when horses are transported. Animals imported from abroad can therefore form a contamination route, just like other products at airports.”
What kind of research are you currently doing?
“We have caught midges via insect traps at several infected companies in recent weeks. Thousands of midges can end up there per measurement, especially on warmer days. These are then sorted by species and whether they have stung an animal before. More than 30 species of midges live in the Netherlands; In an average livestock farm we find about 12 to 14 species. In this way we hope to find out which midges spread the virus, and whether this still differs from the data from the previous outbreak in 2006 and 2007. Perhaps that can partly explain why the virus has spread faster this time.”
How can such a virus suddenly make the jump to the Netherlands? Is that always via a midge species that also occurs here?
“That’s not necessary. It is possible that an infected midge is transported from abroad. If it infects an animal here, our native midges are able to spread the virus further. But it is also possible that a native midge bites an infected animal that has just been transported to the Netherlands. That midge can then transfer that infection to Dutch cows or sheep.”
There is also criticism from the agricultural sector about the plans for more water-rich nature. This would accelerate the spread due to the high number of midges. Is that right?
“No. Midges are everywhere. They do need some water, but are found in many different places. They breed in tree stumps, rotting leaves, in the mud of ditch banks and in cow manure. Often a bit on the edge between wet and dry, but you can find those kinds of places everywhere in the Netherlands.”
Vaccine urgently needed
The question remains whether the Dutch sheep sector will survive the outbreak of the deadly bluetongue virus, Agriculture Minister Piet Adema warns. Together with neighboring countries Germany and Belgium, he is encouraging the pharmaceutical industry to quickly develop a vaccine.
“It’s going to be exciting,” Adema said on Monday after consultations with his EU colleagues in Luxembourg. The number of sheep ‘will have fallen dramatically next year, absolutely’. Not only do many sick sheep die, the breeding season is also canceled. This means that far fewer lambs will be born next spring. “That is dramatic for the sector,” the minister said gloomyly.
A vaccine is urgently needed, Adema and his colleagues from Germany and Belgium underline. They hope that vaccine developers will put money and attention into research and production. With so much damage already done and potential, there is plenty of demand, the three say. The three neighboring countries are also calling on the EU to relax export rules, which currently ban the export of sheep as long as the virus is circulating. As a result, the animals have been accumulating in the Netherlands for quite some time. (AP)
Also read:
Bluetongue also hits sheep and cows hard in the Netherlands, and there is little that can be done about it
The bluetongue virus is now spreading rapidly among ruminants in the Netherlands. It is also becoming increasingly clear that this is a severe variant. The mortality rate in sheep is high and cows also become seriously ill.
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