Avian flu, dermatosis, swine fever, bluetongue… the year 2025 we live dangerously on farms

Chickens confined throughout Spain, restriction of movements, reinforcement of biosecurity measures on livestock farms, vaccination campaigns,… Until Military Emergency Unit (UME) has intervened in one of these crises. As in the film classic starring very young Mel Gibson and Sigourney Weaver in 1982 about the bloody overthrow of former Indonesian president Sukarno, 2025 has become the year we live dangerously on farms throughout Spain. The threats that have been keeping thousands of ranchers awake at night in the last 12 months are the blue tonguethe contagious lumpy dermatosis (NCD)the bird flu and, more recently, the African swine fever (ASF). Are appropriate measures being taken? Are all these spotlights under control? Is climate change having something to do with it?

Four health crises and their consequences

Bluetongue, dermatosis, avian flu and African swine fever (ASF) have several points in common, unfortunately for livestock farmers: all four are caused by virus rapidly transmitted, through agents such as mosquitoes and wildlife. All of them also entail significant economic damage for the farms they ‘visit’, since in practically all cases it usually entails slaughter of the entire livestock or poultry herd on the infected farm with economic losses for the rancher. Even the threat itself has an impact. For example, the appearance of swine fever in Cerdanyola del Vallés (Barcelona) on November 28 caused a historic drop in the sector’s reference market in Spain – Mercodlleida – from 10 cents on a kilo of pork, going from 1.30 to 1.20 euros on December 1. To which was added a new reduction of 10 cents, to 1.10 euros, three days later. At the end of November, pork had become cheaper by 0.1% compared to the previous month.

Avian flu: new case in Lleida, despite ‘confinement’

The bird flu has forced ‘confine’ all chickens on all farms Spanish authorities since last November 11 due to the risk that wild migratory birds could transmit the ‘flu’ in contact with poultry. Despite which, This Christmas Eve a new sprout appeared on a farm in Lleida, raising the number of cases to 15 in Spain and decreeing the immobilization of all poultry farms within 10 kilometers. In addition to delimiting a reinforced surveillance zone within a 3 km radius. The outbreaks in different wild birds have also increased up to 87. Waiting for bird migration time passesand the risk is decreasing, the president of the Illustrious College of Veterinarians of Segovia, José Miguel Gil, highlights that “the H5N1 serotype, which is the one that is spreading through Europe, has not mutated” and considers contagion to human beings very unlikely. However, it does warn about “high pathogenicity” and that a large number of birds have already been sacrificed (around 1.5 million, 5% of the census).

“We have asked the Ministry to take steps to lower the health classification in view of the outbreaks in France, which could be the ruin of exploitation, and we ask that only carrier animals be euthanized,” says José Ramón González (UPA) about Lumpy Dermatosis (NCD).

Dermatosis: concern for France

Regarding the contagious lumpy dermatosis (NCD)a virus that infects cattle, especially cows, and of which no cases have been recorded since October 24 at the time of writing. The Ministry of Agriculture and the Generalitat of Catalonia, since the main affected area has been the province of Girona, obtained the endorsement of the European Commission for an urgent vaccination plan both in the established restricted zone and in neighboring areas. However, the threat continues due to the proliferation of new cases in the south of Franceespecially in the departments bordering Spain of Pyrenees-Orientales, Aude and Haute Garonne. The management of the French authorities has caused protests in the sector. “We have asked the Ministry for steps to lower the health classification in the face of the outbreaks in France, which could be the ruin of exploitation, and we ask that only the carrier animals be slaughtered,” says the head of Livestock at the Union of Small Farmers and Ranchers (UPA), José Ramón González.

Blue tongue, “on standby”?

Regarding the oldest of these diseases, blue tongueFrom the Ministry of Agriculture they confirm the presence of the virus in almost all of Spain except in the Canary Islands (the only Spanish territory free of this disease) although its presence has recently been detected in Cáceres, Badajoz, Guadalajara, Cuenca, Alicante and Valencia. There are several serotypes in circulation: 1,3,4 and 8. Gil remembers that “previously the mosquito that transmits it did not go beyond a certain latitude”but that now “has been adapted to broadcast it nationally.” At the moment, the vice president of the Council of Veterinary Colleges of Castilla y León (COLVETCYL) points out that the blue tongue is “on standby” with the arrival of winter and highlights that it is not harmful to humans. What it does highlight is that there are already vaccines of different serotypes and that they are already working “on awareness and vaccination to stop and eliminate it.”

About bluetongue: “Before, the mosquito that transmits it did not go beyond a certain latitude,” but now “it has adapted to transmit it nationally,” states José Miguel Gil (Illustrious College of Veterinarians of Segovia)

Swine fever, the last minute ‘guest’

To conclude the year, a last-minute return: African swine fever (ASF), which has been located to date in 27 wild boars. All of them in the same surveillance area in Cerdanyola del Vallés (Barcelona), with no cases in free-range pigs. The virus that has this animal as its main ‘client’ “does not have zoonoses (does not affect people) and it represents a problem apart from derived or non-fresh products”, but it is “an economic problem” highlights this expert who recalls that Spain is the first European exporter of pork and the third in the world after the United States and China. The president of the (Illustrious College of Veterinarians of Segovia avoids speculating on the origin of the outbreak and considers that “the wild boar swarms everywhere” although this expert “hopes that it can be contained” with all the security measures adopted, although he does confirm that “the damage has been done” in reference to the decrease in exports in such relevant markets as China, Japan, Mexico and South Korea. The second and third are still closed tight.

“Health alerts are increasingly important”

But are the appropriate measures being adopted? Are all these spotlights under control? Is climate change having something to do with it? The Secretary of Livestock of the Union of Small Farmers and Ranchers (UPA), José Ramón González, recognizes that “in recent years health alerts have become more and more important” and relates it directly to phenomena such as the increase in average temperatures on Earth. “Climate change is moving viruses,” confirms the representative of this agricultural organization who defends that “Europe has the best food security in the world“We have protocols for all diseases.”

“Europe has the best food security in the world: we have protocols for all diseases,” says the Secretary of Livestock of the Union of Small Farmers and Ranchers (UPA)

Regarding the measures adopted by public administrations to prevent the ‘jump’ of swine fever to farms, the person in charge of Livestock of this agricultural organization speaks of “good job” and, in this case, he points out that “everyone is congratulating the Ministry of Agriculture and the Generalitat for containing the outbreak.” From those who fight on the front line against all these animal pathologies, all of them except avian flu are not contagious to humans and in the case of influenza it is very specific, the president of the College of Veterinarians of Segovia José Miguel Gil points out that “there have always been animal diseases” and, he adds, that “with current transmission media they now sound more and citizens learn more.”

Yes, he agrees with González, from UPA, in that “Climate change is influencing vectors (transmitters) such as mosquitoes of different species” and points out that many of the diseases mentioned such as ASF, avian flu or bluetongue “they come from warmer climates or places like China, India or Africa” and adds another important variable: invasive species. In any case, he clarifies that in the case of African swine fever (ASF) it is an old acquaintance “since 30 years ago we were already fighting to eradicate it in Spain.”