8/23/2024: 

We are receiving a lot of questions and requests from international partners to share experience and knowledge about the BTV-3 outbreak. In order to fulfil this request. René van den Brom, DVM, PhD, DipECSRHM, Emma Strous, DVM, DipECBHM and Inge Santman-Berends, MSc, PhD, shared their experience and knowledge with international partners in a webinar on 22 August. The webinar was chaired by Gerdien van Schaik, MSc, PhD.

In 2023, an outbreak of BTV-3 began in the Netherlands (Holwerda et al., 2024). The impact on sheep in the Netherlands was immense (Santman et al., 2024), but the disease also caused morbidity and mortality in cattle. Later in 2023, BTV-3 was also diagnosed in Belgium, Germany and the UK (detected by passive surveillance). In 2024, BTV-3 reappeared in the Netherlands (as expected) and was also detected in Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany and Luxembourg. In May/June 2024, three BTV-3 vaccines became available in the Netherlands, but the disease is currently spreading rapidly and (still) causing problems mainly in sheep and cattle.

Watch replay