BTV-8 vaccination & surveillance costs in Austria

What is it about?

In the relatively small European country of Austria, almost 1.6 million cattle, 344,000 sheep and 65,000 goats were vaccinated against BTV-8 during the compulsory vaccination programme (2008-2009). This analysis includes payments made directly by the government authorities to prevent disease spread and also "payments in-kind", meaning work done routinely by veterinary agencies, the costs of which are often hidden. Overall, the BTV-8 programmes in Austria cost €22.81 million, of which 31.8% (€7.25 million) was allocated to surveillance and 68.2% (€15.55 million) to the vaccination campaign. The total amount spent to control bluetongue disease between 2005 and 2013 was €14.14 per livestock unit, of which €4.50 per livestock unit was spent on BTV surveillance and €9.64 on vaccination.

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Why is it important?

Bluetongue virus continues to spread throughout Europe, and the EU and national authorities have to make decisions about whether to vaccinate their livestock or not.