The bluetongue outbreaks in Sardinia come to the attention of Parliament and become the subject of a question to the Minister of Agriculture Francesco Lollobrigida.
"As was widely foreseeable since late spring, the African swine fever emergency has been joined by a second emergency with bluetongue that is spreading in Sardinian and Italian farms, already prostrated by the water emergency throughout the summer", says PD deputy Silvio Lai, first signatory with other Democratic deputies of the document.
"We are faced with a government that is perpetually late and chases emergencies instead of preventing them, especially when they affect regions that they do not administer, like Sardinia," Lai continues, explaining: "On the island, reading the latest report from the Experimental Zooprophylactic Institute of Sardinia, the outbreaks have gone from 666 to 981, with a prevalence in the center-south where Nuoro and Oristano concentrate 60% of the reports. But the entire region is affected, as reported by Coldiretti, which speaks of alarming proportions and risks for the Sardinian sheep farming system. Moreover, it is easy to imagine that there will be less milk and less movement of flocks and herds and this will also have effects on costs and prices for producers and final consumers."
«Beyond Sardinia, Piedmont and Calabria are the most affected regions, followed by 4 other Italian regions, but with much lower data than the island», adds Lai.
The question therefore asks the Government to know if there is an intervention plan for this epidemiological criticality, what interventions have been carried out and planned in terms of prevention and to secure unaffected farms in addition to providing for the necessary compensation.
(Online Union)
