2023-10-04 11:01:52
The number of outbreaks has increased on farms in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques and Hautes-Pyrénées. Nineteen outbreaks of epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD), which mainly affects cattle, were counted on Thursday morning, the Ministry of Agriculture announced on Friday, September 29, announcing the obligation of tests for all animals leaving a vast area. surveillance zone in the south-west of France.
On September 21, the ministry reported only three outbreaks of this disease, which does not infect humans. Transmitted by biting midges, the disease mainly affects deer and cattle. It causes fever, weight loss, mouth lesions, breathing difficulties, lameness. In deer, it can trigger hemorrhagic syndrome, hence its name. In cattle, it is fatal in less than 1% of cases, according to experts.
A security perimeter, with a radius of 150 kilometers around a farm infected with the virus, was set up on September 25, accompanied by an exit ban for the animals – although with several exceptions, such as a journey towards the slaughterhouse.
Weekly review
From now on, as of October 1, “any animal required to leave the regulated zone linked to confirmed outbreaks of this disease must have previously undergone a laboratory screening test attesting to the absence of contamination, in addition to the disinsection already planned”explains the ministry on Friday in a communiqué.
This surveillance zone still concerns six entire departments, and now seven partially, one more than before. It includes Landes, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Hautes-Pyrénées, Gers, Haute-Garonne and Ariège, and also concerns part of Gironde, Lot-et-Garonne, Lot, Tarn-et -Garonne, Tarn, Aude and Pyrénées-Orientales.
Three outbreaks are located on farms in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques and sixteen outbreaks in the Hautes-Pyrénées. “A weekly assessment will be carried out every weekend”specifies the ministry.
The one “continues” also “exchanges with its trading partners to reopen markets that could be temporarily closed” pour “preserve – in compliance with health requirements – commercial flows”particularly to Europe (Spain, Italy, Greece) and North Africa.
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