Time is GMT + 8 hours Posted: 19-Aug-2006 01:23 hrs
Dutch vets take blood tests of sheep on a farm near Welsum in March 2001. Eleven farms in the southeast of the Netherlands may have cases of a sheep virus, known as bluetongue, the Dutch agriculture ministry said.
Eleven farms in the southeast of the Netherlands may have cases of a sheep virus, known as bluetongue, the Dutch agriculture ministry said. . The disease was first identified Thursday in two sheep at a farm at Kerkrade. A nationwide ban on exports of live cattle, goats and sheep is in place. . "Eleven suspected businesses are being examined at the moment," a ministry spokeswoman said. . All are in the south of the Limburg province bordering Belgium, where suspected cases are also being examined, she said. . The Dutch news agency ANP reported that at one of the 11 farms, with a flock of 1,400 sheep, 12 animals had died in recent days and another six were ill. . A security cordon of 150 kilometres (90 miles) has been thrown around the district affected in line with European Union rules. . The European Commission will decide Monday on whether to ban the movement of live ruminants from regions surrounding the outbreak, the EU's executive arm said. . EU food safety and veterinarian experts would meet on Monday and decide if a response was needed at the EU level to the outbreak of the disease, the commission said in a statement. . "So long as we have no further information exports from the Netherlands of all ruminants (cattle, sheep and goats) and live products (embryos, sperm and cells) remains frozen," she said. . It is the first time bluetongue disease, found in Greece and Italy, had been reported in northern Europe, the ministry added. . Bluetongue is a non-contagious, insect-transmitted, viral disease of sheep, which is not known to affect humans, according to the European Union food safety website. . It is characterized by inflammation of the mucous membranes, congestion, swelling and haemmorrhages. Sheep are generally the worst affected, while cattle and goats do not usually show any clinical signs of disease but can carry the virus for a certain period of time and transmit it to sheep. . It is treated by restricting the movement of infected animals and through the use of vaccine. . Last year the Netherlands exported more than half a million cattle, goats and sheep worth almost 115 million euros (147 million dollars). — AFP Eleven farms in the southeast of the Netherlands may have cases of a sheep virus, known as bluetongue, the Dutch agriculture ministry said. . The disease was first identified Thursday in two sheep at a farm at Kerkrade. A nationwide ban on exports of live cattle, goats and sheep is in place. . "Eleven suspected businesses are being examined at the moment," a ministry spokeswoman said. . All are in the south of the Limburg province bordering Belgium, where suspected cases are also being examined, she said. . The Dutch news agency ANP reported that at one of the 11 farms, with a flock of 1,400 sheep, 12 animals had died in recent days and another six were ill. . A security cordon of 150 kilometres (90 miles) has been thrown around the district affected in line with European Union rules. . The European Commission will decide Monday on whether to ban the movement of live ruminants from regions surrounding the outbreak, the EU's executive arm said. . EU food safety and veterinarian experts would meet on Monday and decide if a response was needed at the EU level to the outbreak of the disease, the commission said in a statement. . "So long as we have no further information exports from the Netherlands of all ruminants (cattle, sheep and goats) and live products (embryos, sperm and cells) remains frozen," she said. . It is the first time bluetongue disease, found in Greece and Italy, had been reported in northern Europe, the ministry added. . Bluetongue is a non-contagious, insect-transmitted, viral disease of sheep, which is not known to affect humans, according to the European Union food safety website. . It is characterized by inflammation of the mucous membranes, congestion, swelling and haemmorrhages. Sheep are generally the worst affected, while cattle and goats do not usually show any clinical signs of disease but can carry the virus for a certain period of time and transmit it to sheep. . It is treated by restricting the movement of infected animals and through the use of vaccine. . Last year the Netherlands exported more than half a million cattle, goats and sheep worth almost 115 million euros (147 million dollars). — AFP Eleven farms in the southeast of the Netherlands may have cases of a sheep virus, known as bluetongue, the Dutch agriculture ministry said. . The disease was first identified Thursday in two sheep at a farm at Kerkrade. A nationwide ban on exports of live cattle, goats and sheep is in place. . "Eleven suspected businesses are being examined at the moment," a ministry spokeswoman said. . All are in the south of the Limburg province bordering Belgium, where suspected cases are also being examined, she said. . The Dutch news agency ANP reported that at one of the 11 farms, with a flock of 1,400 sheep, 12 animals had died in recent days and another six were ill. . A security cordon of 150 kilometres (90 miles) has been thrown around the district affected in line with European Union rules. . The European Commission will decide Monday on whether to ban the movement of live ruminants from regions surrounding the outbreak, the EU's executive arm said. . EU food safety and veterinarian experts would meet on Monday and decide if a response was needed at the EU level to the outbreak of the disease, the commission said in a statement. . "So long as we have no further information exports from the Netherlands of all ruminants (cattle, sheep and goats) and live products (embryos, sperm and cells) remains frozen," she said. . It is the first time bluetongue disease, found in Greece and Italy, had been reported in northern Europe, the ministry added. . Bluetongue is a non-contagious, insect-transmitted, viral disease of sheep, which is not known to affect humans, according to the European Union food safety website. . It is characterized by inflammation of the mucous membranes, congestion, swelling and haemmorrhages. Sheep are generally the worst affected, while cattle and goats do not usually show any clinical signs of disease but can carry the virus for a certain period of time and transmit it to sheep. . It is treated by restricting the movement of infected animals and through the use of vaccine. . Last year the Netherlands exported more than half a million cattle, goats and sheep worth almost 115 million euros (147 million dollars). — AFP Eleven farms in the southeast of the Netherlands may have cases of a sheep virus, known as bluetongue, the Dutch agriculture ministry said. . The disease was first identified Thursday in two sheep at a farm at Kerkrade. A nationwide ban on exports of live cattle, goats and sheep is in place. . "Eleven suspected businesses are being examined at the moment," a ministry spokeswoman said. . All are in the south of the Limburg province bordering Belgium, where suspected cases are also being examined, she said. . The Dutch news agency ANP reported that at one of the 11 farms, with a flock of 1,400 sheep, 12 animals had died in recent days and another six were ill. . A security cordon of 150 kilometres (90 miles) has been thrown around the district affected in line with European Union rules. . The European Commission will decide Monday on whether to ban the movement of live ruminants from regions surrounding the outbreak, the EU's executive arm said. . EU food safety and veterinarian experts would meet on Monday and decide if a response was needed at the EU level to the outbreak of the disease, the commission said in a statement. . "So long as we have no further information exports from the Netherlands of all ruminants (cattle, sheep and goats) and live products (embryos, sperm and cells) remains frozen," she said. . It is the first time bluetongue disease, found in Greece and Italy, had been reported in northern Europe, the ministry added. . Bluetongue is a non-contagious, insect-transmitted, viral disease of sheep, which is not known to affect humans, according to the European Union food safety website. . It is characterized by inflammation of the mucous membranes, congestion, swelling and haemmorrhages. Sheep are generally the worst affected, while cattle and goats do not usually show any clinical signs of disease but can carry the virus for a certain period of time and transmit it to sheep. . It is treated by restricting the movement of infected animals and through the use of vaccine. . Last year the Netherlands exported more than half a million cattle, goats and sheep worth almost 115 million euros (147 million dollars). — AFP