Spanish veterinarians did not focus on this type of smallpox since it had not appeared in the Spanish herd since 1968, but they did not deny that there was a risk of entry
from this tuesday6,000 sheep farms and goats from Cuenca, Ciudad Real, Toledo and Albacete, with some 3.5 million heads, they are immobilized due to sheep pox, a highly contagious disease with high mortality among animals but which is not transmitted to humans or to the milk or cheese they produce.
Experts are amazed at how what started out as an outbreak of sheep/goat pox in Grenada, which later made the leap to Cuenca, has ended up expanding in the Castilian-La Mancha region to the point of immobilizing cattle after 25 outbreaks and 38,000 slaughtered animals.
The decision of the Junta de Castilla-La Mancha has been precipitated after the detection these days of an outbreak on a large farm in the province of Ciudad Real, away from the initial sources of Cuenca and their radius of action.
How did you get to Ciudad Real?
The suspected case in Ciudad Real supposes that the most probable origin is the movement of cattle from another area and hence the immobilization of cattle decreed to stop the spread; a measure that does not have an end date, pending the epidemiological evolution of the situation.
The restrictions include properly clean and disinfect the means of transport and expand the scope of sampling to reach 500 farms in two months.
Only movements of animals destined for the slaughterhouse are authorized even if it will be possible to continue collecting milk on farms and the animals can also be grazed.
indemnities
Until December, the Government of Castilla-La Mancha has paid the affected farmers in the province of Cuenca 4 million euros in compensation, according to amounts set by the Ministry, and is currently preparing an order for more compensation.
Compensation, for example, for farmers who are going to reintroduce cattle on their farms once the one they had has been slaughtered.
Amazement among the experts
The experts consulted by Efeagro are astonished because the first outbreak in Benamaurel (Granada), which was detected on September 19 and then spread to various nearby areas before jumping to Cuenca, It has been managed to control despite being in an area of extensive livestock.
Meanwhile, the outbreaks in Cuenca ended up spreading throughout the province and were possibly the origin of this jump to Real city, despite the fact that in Castilla-La Mancha they are more intensive productions and biosecurity measures can be better controlled, according to experts.
Spanish vets They did not focus on this type of smallpox since it had not appeared in the Spanish herd since 1968 but neither do they deny that there was a risk of entry because an outbreak had already been detected in Greece and Bulgaria, as well as being endemic in North Africa.
For this reason, the most possible route of entry to Spain was any movement or displacement from an affected country, since the virus resists well at room temperature, so it can be transported on clothing or other material.
Now everything The objective is to ensure that the immobilization manages to control the expansion of the virus and do not reach new territories.
The director of the sheep and goat interprofessional (Interovic), Tomás Rodríguez, has indicated to Efeagro that the goal is to “stop the outbreaks.”
rate the decision of the regional government that is following the “protocols” recommended in order to control the outbreaks.