There are 360 outbreaks of bluetongue in Sardinia: 94 have already been confirmed, while 266 are suspected but are usually later confirmed.
Here comes the official data from the Experimental Zooprophylactic Institute of Sardinia on the spread of the disease, on which until now alarms had been spread by trade associations. Overall, the heads involved are 10,134 of which the deaths are 1,062.
Most of the outbreaks are found in Sulcis and Nuoro (81 between 26 confirmed and 55 in the south west of the island and 4 confirmed and 77 suspected in Nuoro), followed by Oristano with 65 outbreaks (2 farms where the presence of the virus has been confirmed with 51 dead animals and 63 suspected) and then Gallura with 49 outbreaks (41 active and 8 suspected).
There are 34 outbreaks in the Cagliari area (all suspected to be confirmed), 32 in the Medio Campidano area (18 active and 14 suspected), 17 in Ogliastra (2 active and 15 suspected) and only one confirmed in the Sassari area.
In Sardinia the disease is now considered endemic and 5 serotypes have been identified on the island (SBT1, SBT2, SBT4, SBT8, SBT16), some of which have a higher pathogenicity: currently, according to the map drawn up by the epidemiological observatory of the Sardinian Izs, in most cases the serotype has not yet been identified. For those outbreaks of bluetongue for which a response has been found, it emerges that serotype 3 prevails, compared to 8 (especially widespread in Gallura and Nuorese) and 4 (in Ogliastra and Marghine).
In the meantime , the ASL of Oristano has announced that the Animal Health service "has already arranged a health measure to reduce the risk of further spread of bluetongue in areas not yet affected by viral circulation through the control of the movements of animals of species susceptible to the disease".
At the moment there are 44 municipalities in the province, out of a total of 88, where the circulation of the BTV3 virus has been detected.
(Unionenonline)
