France orders 2 million additional doses of vaccine to curb the epidemic

The Minister of Agriculture, Annie Genevard, wants to “ensure optimized vaccination coverage”, with nearly 14 million doses ordered in total.

France has launched an order for 2 million additional doses of bluetongue vaccine “as part of a vaccination strategy adapted to the rapid evolution of the epizootic”announced Monday, November 4, the Minister of Agriculture Annie Genevard, in Tarn. The State had already ordered 11.7 million doses of vaccines against bluetongue serotype 3. The 2 million new doses will be added to this total and will allow “to ensure optimized vaccination coverage”according to the ministry.

The minister also announced the holding of animal health meetings in January 2025 aimed at “take back a little control” against the epizootics which are harming French livestock farms. “We all need to sit around a table, not only professionals, breeders, but also laboratories, research institutes, state services, and think about a shared strategy so that “we can regain control a little, and not always suffer these epidemics”declared the minister during a press point on the sidelines of her trip to a sheep farm in Montgey (Tarn).

Bluetongue serotype 3, a viral disease transmitted by a midge, is wreaking havoc in Europe. Not transmissible to humans, this epizootic has spread at high speed in France since its first detection in the North in August. There were more than 7,000 households as of October 30. The minister also said she wanted to drive a change in strategy at the European level, with the aim of “coordinated research to find vaccines that can be multi-targeted, that do not only treat one type of variant, because it’s a frantic race and we will always be late”.