The blue tongue among the sheep and the avian flu that killed the birds of Monte Urpinu , in Cagliari, were not enough. In Sardinia, the Ehd virus has been identified, the “epizootic haemorrhagic disease of the Deer”, a disease similar to Blue tongue, which however affects ruminants.

From the Region they let it be known that "the pathogen, which spreads through culicoid insects (midges, ed ) has been identified in some cattle from farms located in Southern Sardinia". In Arbus, to be precise.

The movement stops, inside and outside the borders of Sardinia: the decision of the Ministry of Health will be valid for the next three or four weeks. The validity of the provision is also extended to the movement of sheep and other ruminants.

Also in this case, the discovery by the territorial veterinary services found confirmation beyond the Tyrrhenian Sea: it came from the National Reference Center for Exotic Diseases of Teramo.

In the Region, another crisis unit was convened, after the one for avian. The meeting was attended by the technicians of the Regional Health Department and the Experimental Zooprophylactic Institute of Sardinia, in liaison with the technicians of the Ministry of Health and the Reference Center of Teramo.

This is the first outbreak related to Ehd detected in Europe , according to the Region, but the disease has already been present in North Africa for some time, from which it could have arrived carried by insects transported to the island by the winds of the desert.

“The identification of the virus”, explains the regional health councilor, Mario Nieddu, “once again highlights the capacity of our surveillance and monitoring system on diseases and epidemiological risk. Controls have already started, on animals and insects, to verify the presence of the virus beyond the area of the outbreak ".