UNMIK on Air

“Blue Tongue Virus Leads to Another Export Ban”

September 2004

(Valon A. Syla)

Hello and Welcome. You are listening to UNMIK on Air.

Atmosphere: (An international expert looking at the sheep and speaking like you can see the virus at the tongue. Sheep Bells ringing.)

The concern over a widespread cattle disease in the Balkans known as “Blue Tongue” has led the Western and Central European meat industry to ban animal imports from Albania, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Serbia-Montenegro and Kosovo. Sheep, goats, cattle and other hooved animals will be refused entry to the EU - the ban also applies to Greece, Corsica and parts of Italy.

Atmosphere: Strpce Village.

“Blue Tongue” is a viral disease that infects sheep and cattle. The first European citing of the disease was in Turkey, three years ago. And in that time - the disease has had devastating affects throughout the meat industry of all the Mediterranean and Balkan countries. In Kosovo a local vet, Sasa Mitic was the first one to discover it.

Actuality: Sasa “I identified the presence of the livestock virus known as “Blue Tongue” in Strpce in 2001. And I immediately informed the veterinary service for animal healthcare. Since that time - every year we research to see of the existence or the prevalence of this disease in Kosovo.”

Atmosphere: The Lab… setup with the co managers’ actuality.

Not much is known about the “Blue Tongue” virus, and almost every month regional veterinarians go out in the field to collect blood samples from Kosovo’s cattle as a first line of defense against the spread of the disease. Prevention is the best protection says Artan Osmani the co-manager of the Kosovo research project testing Kosovo’s livestock. He spoke to UNMIK On-Air from his lab facilities.

Actuality: “Currently we are in a research project that is actively looking for the virus commonly known as Blue Tongue – which you probably know is found in Sheep and Cattle. We are searching for signs of the virus in at least 13 municipalities, where the samples are collected and tested in a laboratory in Prishtina. (Edit…) our testing indicates the possibility of the virus further spreading to other European countries buying Kosovo meat – proof of such a spread puts many local farmers at risk of losing valuable income.”

Atmosphere: Sheep and their Bells:

The project of supporting the veterinary services is funded by the European Agency for Reconstruction. The EAR says one of the main reasons for supporting such research is that there is still a risk that “Blue Tongue” could spread northward.

Watching the sheep in the High Sharr Mountains in Southeastern Kosovo, one would never expect a disease to be found in such an isolated location. Dr. William Taylor is an international expert on this issue.

Actuality: Taylor “This disease is wildly reported with mortality some sheep dead. Since that time the virus has left the sheep and gone into cattle and now for the last two years it has lived in cattle and we believe that its is still in cattle to this day.”

Atmosphere: Testing the Cows

Examining the cows in Strpce, some 70 kilometers from Pristina, Dr. Taylor says that “Blue Tongue” spreads like malaria. The flies that bite the sheep also deliver the virus to other livestock, like cows. In this way newly infected cows serve as temporary viral hosts until the infection is re-passed to sheep by other fly bites. Taylor says it is a difficult cycle to break.

Actuality: Taylor “Taking Europe as a whole we don’t know how far north blue tongue will spread. That is perhaps one of our main relevancies of our studies in Kosovo. It may move further north and we need to know that its here that its active and its starting to move.”

William Taylor works with the European Agency for Reconstruction.

Kosovo’s Consolidated Budget cannot deal will the Blue Tongue disease on their own according to Kosovo’s Ministry of Agriculture. The financial help from European Union will be still needed for the research for the widespread virus to continue.

This was UNMIK on Air thanks for listening and Goodbye.