Epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD), which mainly affects cattle, is spreading rapidly in France, where more than fifty outbreaks have been recorded.
About 53 outbreaks have been detected in the southwest of the country, according to the latest report released on Friday by the Ministry of Agriculture. As of September 29, the ministry reported 19 outbreaks of the disease, which does not affect humans. The number of houses has almost tripled within eight days.
In addition, “a case of MHE infection in deer was detected in the Hautes-Pyrénées.” “The animal was located near cattle farms that had themselves reported the disease,” the ministry press release said.
The mosquito-borne disease primarily affects deer and cattle. It causes fever, weight loss, mouth lesions, difficulty breathing and lameness.
In deer it can cause hemorrhagic syndrome, hence the name. According to experts, it is fatal in cattle in less than 1% of cases.
On September 25, a security perimeter was set up within a radius of 150 kilometers around a farm infected with the virus, combined with a ban on animals leaving the country – although with some exceptions, such as a trip to the slaughterhouse.
The “surveillance zone” now fully or partially affects 15 departments.
The Ministry of Agriculture also announces that “Spain once again authorizes the importation of young French cattle” and that “negotiations with France’s other trading partners continue.”
After closing its borders at the end of September following the announcement of the first MHE outbreaks on cattle farms in France, “Spain has given its consent in principle to the reopening of its French livestock market.” Trade in young cattle will thus be directed towards the entire Spanish mainland (and unconditionally to those affected Spanish territories) has been resumed,” the press release states.
Spain itself has been affected by the disease since November 2022.
The Ministry of Agriculture “is also actively continuing discussions with the Italian authorities, as well as with Greece and Algeria, with a view to reopening the markets that were temporarily closed to all or part of the French territory.”