disease free since 1999, annually monitoring programme in place 

disease-free since 1999, annually monitoring programme in place 

disease-free since 2022 

Cases of BTV-3 as well as BTV-4 since September 2024;status “disease-free” suspended: entire federal territory declared as ´”bluetongue-zone”. Till December 27^th cases on 312 farms. Different vaccines (for both BTV-3 and BTV-4) are currently administered.

Trade Conditions: from Member states without disease free status and without an approved eradication programme: The animals must have been protected against vectors (Culicoides) by insecticides or repellents for at least 14 days preceding the date of movement and must have been subjected to a PCR test for all blue tongue serotypes (1-24) reported in the Member State or zone of origin during the previous 2 years with negative results, taken at least 14 days after the onset of the protection against vectors. Animals complying with requirements in points 1, 2 or 3 of Chapter 2 of Part II of Annex V to Regulation (EU) 2020/689 therein shall always be accepted in Austria.

officially free (for many years)

officially free country

cca 80 % are free of BVD based on individual eradications programmes

The first case of serotype 3 confirmed 6/9/2024. There are 100 outbrakes today, the whole territory of the Czech Republic is in BTV restricted zone. Since of 1.12.2024 is the Czech Republic recognised as “seasonally BTV-free area” based on the EU regulation. For voluntary vaccination is used vaccine Biobos BTV3 (https://www.bioveta.cz/pripravky/veterinarni-pripravky/biobos-btv-3-injekcni-suspenze.html). One dose cost about 2,5 € (it is necessary to apply 2 doses for full immunity) + costs of vet. Most breeders vaccinating their animals only if it helps them in trade (e.g. Slovakia is accepting of vaccinated animals), because there are no serious clinical signs of BTV3.

Movements are realised according the official EU rules: https://food.ec.europa.eu/animals/animal-diseases/surveillance-eradication-programmes-and-disease-free-status/bluetongue_en#disease-free

Note: In my opinion, the EU Regulation (EU) 2016/429 regarding bluetongue is very strict - it causes many problems for farmers and significant financial losses due to trade difficulties, but at the same time it does not prevent the spread of the disease. I therefore believe that we should try to convince DG Sante to amend the Regulation in order to simplify the conditions for animal movements.

there is an ongoing national eradication programme (started in June 2024), however many north and middle Italy regions are free territories 

No national eradication programme but many regions have adopted monitoring programme and vaccination procedure, indeed we had no cases in 2024

No cases and no official programme

since UE Regulation 2016/429 many regions have adopted voluntary eradication programmes and there are ongoing national monitoring plans. In 2024 the most consistent serotypes were 8, 4 and 3, in the beginning of 2025 we had 37 confirmed outbreaks most of them in Lombardia and Lazio regions.

officially free

no official program, but pure breed beef farms are using vaccination

no official program, but pure breed beef farms are using vaccination

no cases (officially), but already 3 cases in Poland registered. For the moment we are in dialogue with Veterinary Authorities to improve safety plan and eradication plan in case of positive case.

officially free

official eradication program, no more positive animals in the country since 2024, we are expecting to get the official status free in 2027. Vaccination is not allowed anymore.

official program, BVD is eradicated since 2020, and we are expecting to get the official free status soon. No vaccination allowed

• BTV3, we had many cases since August 2024 (1^st official cases) and big problems in some herds still ongoing. Vaccine (BULTAVO 3 - Boehringer) is available but vaccination is compulsory.
• BTV8 free since 2024 (vaccine is still available).
• No cases of BTV4.