Dutch to cull 35,000 goats to fight Q-fever

Dutch authorities plan to cull all of about 34,000 pregnant goats on farms hit by the highly infectious disease Q-fever and 1,200 male goats to stop it spreading to humans, Dutch ministries said on Wednesday.

Q-fever is caused by a bacterium that is mostly transmitted to humans from goats and sheep, especially during delivery of young. The number of human cases of the disease has risen to about 2,200 currently from about 170 in 2007.

For humans, the illness causes flu-like symptoms treatable with antibiotics, but in rare cases it can be fatal. Six people who had other diseases or were weakened have died this year while having Q-fever.

Authorities had initially aimed to distinguish between contaminated farms where vaccinations had or had not taken place. They originally planned to cull pregnant goats along with contaminated animals on farms that had not carried out vaccinations against the disease, but kill only contaminated animals on farms where animals were vaccinated.

However, on the basis of recent health advice, they decided to modify the measure and cull all pregnant animals on all contaminated farms, the Dutch ministries for agriculture and health said in a statement.

Animals will be killed by lethal injection, the ministries said, starting from December 21. About 1,200 male goats on the farms will also be culled, and breeding will be banned on all farms with sheep and goats until July 1, 2010.

About 55 farms in the Netherlands are contaminated, which have a total of about 64,000 goats, of which 34,000 are pregnant animals. The ministry expected more farms to become contaminated in coming months. Q-fever is usually not visible with contaminated goats and sheep, but can lead to premature or still births.

Dutch authorities had already taken measures to prevent spreading of Q-fever, such as vaccination programmes for farms holding more than 50 sheep or goats, and restrictions on transport to and from contaminated farms.