Bluetongue disease continues to spread in the Jura and beyond. From 26 farms affected in the canton a week ago, the number has increased to around sixty this Monday. This represents around 5 to 6% of Jura farms housing sheep or cattle.
The cold should slow down the activity of the midge responsible for transmitting the virus, but its effects are slow to appear, due to the incubation period of the disease: between the time of the bite and the detection of the virus on the animal, 5 to 10 days can pass. Cases that appeared at the beginning of this week may therefore come from transmission prior to the drop in temperatures.
Contacted, the Jura cantonal veterinarian Laurent Monnerat estimates that the spread should decrease in the coming days. He specifies that mortality remains low: 2 to 3% among sheep, less than 1% among cattle. The measures to combat the disease remain unchanged.
Two different serotypes are now circulating in Switzerland
Jura is the canton most affected by this virus, serotype 3. But it is also spreading elsewhere in the northwest of Switzerland. According to the Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office, 10 other cantons are now affected: Basel-Landschaft, Basel-Stadt, Bern, Vaud, Thurgau, Aargau, Solothurn, Schaffhausen, Zurich and Lucerne. And at the same time, serotype 8 is also circulating. Cases have been reported in the cantons of Vaud and Neuchâtel. /lad
