To the Editor: Bluetongue (BT) is an emerging disease of ruminants in northern Europe (1,2). This disease was reported in August 2006 in the Nether-lands and a few days later in Belgium. In 2006, animals in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany were affected. In contrast to 2006, when BT virus (BTV) was identifi ed in ≈2,000 en-closures on farms, BTV was identifi ed in >40,000 farm buildings containing ruminants in 2007; many infected ani-mals had severe disease. In addition, the virus expanded its range to include large areas of France, Denmark, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, and the Czech Republic (2).
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