New alarms about blue tongue – calves lack brains.

Movies that TV4 News have taken part in show how calves can’t rise or just stand out in empty nothing like a zombie. In several cases, calves have been killed and at the subsequent autopsy proved to be completely missing a big brain. The injuries are suspected to have received as a fetus, because the mother was infected by blue tongue – often without showing any symptoms herself.

The infection so far in southern Sweden

So far this year, the National Veterinary Institute has confirmed the infection in over 50 newborn calves and new samples flow in all the time. According to Gård & Djurhälsan, they currently receive many reports from, among others, Bohuslän, Halland and Skåne.

– The animal owners are desperate. It is already a stressed situation with many farmers after many years of covid and war and increased costs. So now losing calves is both hard financially, but above all emotionally, says Erika Geijer, nut health veterinarian at Gård & Djurhälsan.

Viral disease that only affects animals

Blue tongue is a viral disease that can hit sheep and cattle. People and meat cannot be affected. The infection was found to be back in Sweden last fall, for the first time in 15 years, including in Bohuslän, Halland and Skåne. One of the victims is the meat farmer Glenn Johansson in Varberg, who has never been to anything like it. He now keeps three calves separated in the hope of teaching them to slide.

– You just sat and looked – what is this? And with half of the calves left, one wonders – are there many to this one? It’s worrying, absolutely, he says.

The authority concerned

The Swedish Board of Agriculture claims to follow developments and collaborate with the industry and other relevant authorities.

“It is serious for the animal owners and it is serious for the animals to get these injuries,” says infection controller Kristina Mieziewska.

The work now recommends pet owners to vaccinate their herds, to curb the continued distribution of the infection. But there are several question marks remaining, including the funding.

Difficult to get hold of vaccine

The National Farmers’ Association has appealed to the government to earmark money in the spring budget. At the same time, it is currently difficult to get hold of the vaccine.

– It is quite natural that demand has increased, as the disease has spread quite extensively in the EU. It is still spreading. We can only hope that manufacturers can adapt the production, says Kristina Mieziewska.

Glenn Johansson thinks that the authorities have woken up too late and expect more cases:

– I think of my colleagues, who may have a hundred calves that are just in their infancy. It’s a ticking bomb, he says.