The bluetongue outbreak has worsened and the damage has already exceeded six million euros. This year, lamb for Christmas will be more expensive for the Portuguese.
The sheep catarrhal fever or blue tongue It is a viral disease that has been affecting sheep in Portugal since mid-September.
In a statement released this Monday, the Confederation of Farmers of Portugal (CAP) warned of an increase in mortality since the beginning of September, and it has already been accounted for “40 thousand more deaths among the sheep populationcompared to the same period last year” and that the sector “urgently needs help”.
The agricultural confederation reported that losses with bluetongue already exceeded six million euros and that the effects could worsen in the coming weeks.
What is most certain is that the impact of this crisis will be felt in the Natalsince two of the traditional dishes of Portuguese families during the festivities are roast lamb or goat.
“It is a huge loss for the sector, especially with Christmas approaching, which is the peak of sheep sales and where the price is already high. There are entire farms that are 80% breaks“, lamented, to (JN), the general secretary of CAP, Marianela Lourenço.
“Given the number of animals that are dying and the number of animals that have aborted, we expect a considerable drop in terms of availability of lamb for sale”, he told the same newspaper, Pedro Cardosoveterinarian and coordinator of Ovibeira.
With Christmas almost upon us, demand growing and supply decreasing, solution involves importing.
It is important to remember that the disease is transmitted through a mosquito and that does not affect the quality of meat, milk or derivatives that may come from infected animals.
Portugal failed in vaccination
In Portugal they are circulating three bluetongue serotypesnamely:
- o BTV-4which first appeared in 2004 and was detected again in 2013 and 2023:
- o BTV-1identified in 2007, with outbreaks until 2021;
- and the BTV-3detected for the first time in September 13th.
Cloud JN, Grace Marianofrom the Portuguese Meat Industry Association, pointed to the delay in vaccinating animals as the main cause of this outbreak: “This year was worse. Vaccination was delayed and the virus is evolvingwith the emergence of new strains.”
“We don’t know if people will be able to have lamb for Christmas. Unfortunately, carcasses will come from other countries,” he added.
Vaccination of sheep and cattle against serotypes one and four is mandatory. Already against the serotype three is only permitted.
However, to contain the effects, CAP urges immediate inclusion of vaccination mandatory against Bluetongue serotype 3 for sheep and cattle in the Animal Health Program at no cost to producers.
The Government announced last week that it had purchased more than three million bluetongue vaccines.
DGAV has temporarily authorized three medicines against bluetongue, two of which are not yet available on the market.
Let us know if an animal dies
The confederation regrets the lack of capacity of the Dead Animal Corpses Collection System (SIRCA), which is coordinated by the General Directorate of Food and Veterinary of the Ministry of Agriculture, considering that it “is not dimensioned for a catastrophic situation such as the current one.”
“Many of the animals killed by this Bluetongue outbreak (…) will have to be buried on their owners’ land due to SIRCA’s operational incapacity. This is an exceptional situation, and all producer associations are aware of the precautions they will have to take in terms of biosecurity when burying animals”, he said.
In addition to the appeal to the Government, CAP launched another one to farmers to declare cases of disease, so that the “real size of the outbreak can be statistically verified, so that existing ones can be duly acted upon”.
