Cases of bluetongue (also called blue tongue) have been detected again in Denmark, for the first time since 2009.
Bluetongue is a serious viral disease of domestic and wild ruminants as well as camels. The disease has been present in the Netherlands since September 2023, increasing the risk of its spread to Denmark and Sweden.
Sweden has had bluetongue-free status since 2010.
In the Netherlands, the infection has been detected in about 1,900 sheep and cattle farms. The disease mainly affects cattle, sheep and goats, and is characterized by fever, drooling, swelling and damage to the mucous membranes. Sheep are particularly at risk.
The fact that Denmark is now losing its free status affects the transport of animals, cargo and exports, and to some extent basic materials as well as the export of beef and milk, wrote Stordjurveterinärna in Middle Scania in a Facebook post.
On the SVA website you can read more about blue tongue..
Watch for symptoms
Symptoms vary in severity from one individual to another, but it is a serious and painful disease regardless of its course:
- fever
- drooling and runny nose
- Swelling of the head (although rarely to hypoxia = blue tongue)
- Redness of the mucous membranes in the oral and nasal cavity
- Later in the course, damage to the oral mucosa and nasal cavity, as well as the coronary band, occurs. This causes poor appetite and lameness.
- It might hit harder than a nut.
- Pregnant animals can miscarry.
source: Large animal veterinarians in Central Scania
The article was published on Monday, August 12, 2024.
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