The Government declares a health emergency due to bluetongue serotype three in Mallorca.

The Regional Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and the Environment has declared Mallorca an area affected by the bluetongue virus serotype three. The government has declared a health emergency after confirming a positive outbreak on a sheep farm in Bunyola, which has 156 animals. Although only one outbreak has been detected, the government is monitoring two cases in the same health zone that were reported this weekend, and samples from them will be sent to the state reference laboratory in Algete.

The virus was detected in one of the numerous routine samples that the Directorate General of Agriculture, Livestock, and Rural Development has been sending to this reference laboratory over the past few months when there was a suspicion of an abnormal situation. Specifically, from January to September, 40 samples were sent for PCR testing, and all the remaining samples "always came back negative," according to the Director General of Agriculture, Livestock, and Rural Development, Fernando Fernández.

To combat the disease, this year "a different strategy" will be developed compared to those previously applied, according to Fernández. For the moment, the health emergency has only been declared in Mallorca, where the Ministry of Agriculture has delimited "a maximum priority vaccination zone within a 10-kilometer radius around the outbreak declared in Bunyola, and farms located in Palma, Marratxí, Esporles, Valldemossa, Puigpunyol, and Deià Alaró will be urgently vaccinated," the director general explained.

Thus, the vaccination campaign against serotype eight will be carried out on all the islands, while that for serotype three will be a priority in Mallorca. However, animals can begin to be vaccinated voluntarily on Menorca, Ibiza, and Formentera.

In addition, the livestock service will be reinforced with three more foremen and three administrative staff, according to the Regional Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, and the Natural Environment, Joan Simonet. Along the same lines, the Regional Ministry of Agriculture intends to build a laboratory to carry out analyses "more quickly and not have to send them elsewhere," he announced.

Fernández wanted to convey a message of reassurance to the livestock sector and explained that there is already a vaccine available for serotype three (unlike the previous health emergency for serotype eight, when there was a stockout). The Regional Ministry has an initial shipment of 50,000 doses for serotype three and has already signed an emergency contract to purchase another 230,000. Vaccination will begin this week in priority municipalities. However, he warned that this new variant is "more serious" than serotype eight.

Regarding the movement restriction protocol, the director general explained that "it is the same" as the one applied during the serotype eight outbreak. However, he explained that "animals can go to the slaughterhouse as long as the vehicle is disinfected and they have a health certificate stating that they are symptom-free."

For his part, vaccination against serotype eight

On the other hand, the situation regarding the bluetongue variant eight epidemic in the Balearic Islands is positive. "The fact that we have maintained the eradication program and established requirements for the entry of animals into our territory allows us to face the second year of the epidemic with high immunity," the regional minister stated. To date, 92% of the entire sheep flock on the islands and 91% of the cattle flock have been vaccinated, which means that the immunity level for these animals, which was set at 80%, has been exceeded.

In Mallorca, 95% of the sheep flock and 90% of the cattle flock have been vaccinated with the first dose; in Menorca, 100% of the sheep flock and 92% of the cattle flock have been vaccinated. In Ibiza, 95% of the cattle flock and 95% of the sheep flock have received the vaccine.