FARMERS across northern Europe are frantically vaccinating cattle and sheep against bluetongue this week, before the biting flies that carry the virus launch this year’s outbreak. Zookeepers are vaccinating their animals too, with some unlikely help: big, Mexican bloodsucking bugs.
All ruminants are susceptible to bluetongue, and it can kill them. The African BTV8 strain, which suddenly appeared in 2006 in Belgium and spread across most of north-west Europe last year, is especially virulent. A yak in a Belgian zoo died during last summer’s outbreak.
This year, a BTV8 vaccine is available, but it was designed for sheep and…
