Tunisia-Sfax: Blue tongue disease affects livestock

In the recent period, a number of sheep and cows have been infected with bluetongue disease in several areas of Sfax as confirmed by the head of the Animal Production Department of the Regional Commission for Development  Dr Sami Farsi.

Dr Farsi explained to Diwan FM that Blue Tongue is an epidemic disease that afflicts sheep and cows, furthermore, it is induced by a virus transmitted by mosquitoes of the type Culicoïdes that reproduce with the availability of appropriate climatic factors, the most important of which is humidity and high temperature, especially in late summer and early autumn. Also, the activity of these mosquitoes increases when dark

The Veterinarian stated that the disease is not transmitted to humans, and it has been endemic in Tunisia since 1999 and is present in the countries of the Mediterranean basin and African countries.