Exotic Disease of Farm Animals Tests Europe's Responses

摘要

A race against the clock is on at farms in northern and central Europe. The question: Can bluetongue, an exotic insect-borne viral disease that unexpectedly popped up here in 2006 and expanded aggressively in 2007, be stopped in 2008? For the past year and a half, manufacturers have been scrambling to produce a vaccine against the particular viral strain, called serotype 8; a handful are ready. But as a recent meeting~* here showed, a number of logistical, scientific, and political problems still threaten to hobble the fight.