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	va1-sg19016.securesites.net

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The 1st clinical case of bluetongue in goats reported during the 

ongoing BT-epidemic in North-West Europe was confirmed at 31 Aug 2007 

in the Netherlands.



The holding containing 600 Dutch milking goats (and 5 healthy cows) 

is located in Someren, in the southeast of Noord-Brabant province. 10 

goats demonstrated clinical signs of bluetongue, starting with acute 

drop in milk yield and pyrexia, followed by oedema of lips and face, 

crusts on lips and muzzle, nasal discharge, conjunctivitis and 

erythema of the udder.



The infection was confirmed by RT-PCR (all 6 sampled goats) and ELISA 

(3 of 6 goats) by CIDC-Lelystad (Central Institute for Animal Disease 

Control in Lelystad, part of Wageningen University and Research 

Centre). Only one goat was found seropositive for bluetongue before 

in the Netherlands in February 2007, but was negative in the RT-PCR 

and did not reveal clinical signs.



Until now it was uncertain whether goats could develop clinical signs 

after natural infection with BTV-8. Experimental infection of goats 

with BTV-8 resulted in clinical signs (Backx et al., accepted for 

publication in Veterinary Record).



In the Netherlands there are approximately 300 000 goats, 1.4 million 

sheep and lambs and 2.5 million cattle. According to the last census 

730 goat farms with 10 or more goats per farm exist. Most of these 

farms are located in the eastern provinces of Gelderland and 

Overijssel, the northern province of Friesland and the southern 

province of Noord-Brabant.



(CIDC-Lelystad, Wageningen UR) and Dr. Arco van der Spek (Food and 

Consumer Product Safety Authority, The Hague)]



--

Piet A. van Rijn, PhD

Projectleader of Exotic Viral Diseases



CIDC-Lelystad

Department of Virology



[A map of the location for the infected farm can be found at



We very much appreciate Dr. Piet van Rijn and colleagues assembling 

this first-hand account. We are particularly pleased that the 

information contains -- in addition to early clinical and laboratory 

data -- a very good estimate of the populations at risk for this 

disease. With the rapidity of spread seen in other countries and the 

lack of effective disease control weapons at present, such estimates 

are invaluable for gauging the magnitude of the animal problem at 

hand and the ensuing economic consequences. - Mod.PC]



....................pc/ejp/dk