Bulgaria reports new bluetongue outbreak

Bluetongue is a non-contagious disease caused by a virus from the genus Orbivirus of the family Reoviridae that affects domestic and wild ruminants.

The number of susceptible flocks is 323 individuals. The location is Devin County, Smolyan Region, according to a report on the World Animal HEALTH Information System (WAHIS) portal.
At the end of July, Bulgarian veterinary services already reported two sheep with the same serotype 8 in a subsidiary farm in the southwest of the country near the border with North Macedonia.

The rapid spread of bluetongue across Europe has forced a number of countries, including France, to begin emergency vaccination.

Experts from the Federal Center for Animal Health (FSBI "ARRIAH" of the ROSSELKHOZNADZOR ) associate outbreaks in Europe with the movement of the main carriers of the virus - midges - in a northerly direction due to global warming. In addition, EU countries do not have a unified approach to combating animal diseases and there is a lack of effective control over the transport of animals and animal products within the bloc.