CAP, the Portuguese confederation of farmers, is demanding measures from the government to compensate for the deaths of 40,000 sheep due to the Blue Tongue virus. Damages faced by livestock producers run to around €6 million – threatening the very existence of some – when this virus could be controlled if the government offered vaccinations (which up till now it has said are too expensive). Hopes are that the ‘crisis’ of sheep deaths (so acute that carcasses are piling up, waiting for collection) will change the government’s approach. This virus, caused by a mosquito, is likely to stop being so virulent when temperatures fall (which they are expected to, very soon) but that won’t bring back the sheep that have died, or the potential revenue that producers have lost – and this is why farmers are so upset. Spain, for example, offers the vaccine to Blue Tongue free of charge.
Farmers’ confederation appeals to government after deaths of 40,000 sheep
Sheep (and lambs) began dying at such a rate that official collection services weren't able to keep up with demand for their services. Image: Facebook
