The blue tongue has started running again in Sardinia. And it is increasingly scary: according to the latest data from the regional Zooprophylactic Institute , there have already been 75 outbreaks with 1,095 cases and 166 dead animals between Sassarese, Gallura, Nuorese, Ogliastra, Medio Campidano and Cagliaritano". The complaint comes from Copagri Sardinia.
«On 21 June we sent an official note to the councilors of Agriculture and Health», explains Giuseppe Patteri, regional president of the association, «to have, after much silence, updates on the health situation resulting from blue tongue and hemorrhagic disease of deer. No response, despite having undertaken the commitment to open a permanent crisis table on the topic of animal health. We did not know and do not know how many outbreaks occurred in 2022 and how many from 1 January 2023, how many farms were affected, how many animals showed symptoms and how many died".
The rural world "cannot simply hope that the winter cold will slow its spread."
The general director of Copagri, Pietro Tandeddu, adds: «We don't even know if the 2023 prophylaxis plan has been approved. In particular, we do not know how many doses of the vaccine were used, in which territories it was acted, on which categories of animals vaccine 1, 2 or 4 was inoculated? We want to remind you that we are dealing with a disease that can present itself in various forms, having knowledge of over 25 serotypes for which there is no vaccine beyond those valid for the serotypes mentioned, not even for 3 which has already appeared in Sardinia. What serotype are we currently talking about?", asks the DG.
(Unioneoneline/E.Fr.)