NEWS

More sheep with found infected with bluetongue disease in Peloponnese

The flocks of two livestock farmers in the Peloponnesian region of Arcadia were confirmed on Tuesday as having been infected by catarrhal fever, a viral disease that affects many ruminants and is also known as bluetongue (BTV).

The state’s veterinary agency said that the two new cases come on top of a confirmed outbreak in Laconia, also in the Peloponnese.

Experts told the state-run Athens-Macedonia New Agency on Tuesday that the virus cannot be transmitted to humans though they warned that it can have a devastating effect on flocks if allowed to spread.

It is transmitted from midges living in dark, dank corners of sheds.

BTV causes high morbidity and mortality and also infects goats, cattle and other domestic animals as well as wild ruminants.

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