Prionics launches a highly effective test for the early detection of Bluetongue Virus (BTV)

BTV causes disease outbreaks which can spread quickly among animal herds causing substantial economic losses in affected countries. At one time the virus was limited to countries located near the equator, but in recent years increasingly more serotypes of the virus have spread to Northern Europe. To combat the disease Prionics now offers the PrioCHECK® BTV DR, a diagnostic test that detects all 24 BTV serotypes known.

Bluetongue is an insect-borne viral disease of domestic and wild ruminants. The virus is spread from one animal to another via bites from midges. Until 1998 the main disease outbreaks appeared in Africa, Asia, Australia, the USA, the Middle East and Mediterranean countries. In recent years, northern European countries have been hit by bluetongue disease outbreaks causing substantial economic losses. Global warming is one possible explanation for the spread of the virus, because of the increased survival of the insect vectors in these northern countries.