European Union veterinary experts have recommended a 150-kilometre observation zone around areas where the bluetongue disease, which primarily affects sheep, has been detected, the EU Commission said Monday, according to dpa. The disease has been detected in the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium. The observation zone would cover most of the Netherlands and Belgium, all of Luxembourg and areas in the German states of North Rhine Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland and Hesse. Ruminants or their carcases should not be moved out of the listed areas, the experts recommended. Tests are still ongoing to determine the strain of the virus that caused the bluetongue outbreaks, the first ever recorded so far north in Europe. Bluetongue affects ruminants and is fatal in up to 40 per cent of cases in sheep, while cattle and goats tend not to show symptoms. The disease causes a fever, increased mucous and frothing from the mouth. Humans are not at risk.
