Economic consequences of the Dutch bluetongue serotype 8 epidemic in 2006 and 2007

In this study the economic consequences of the bluetongue (BT) epidemic of 2006 and 2007 in the Netherlands were calculated. A deterministic economic model was constructed, reflecting the Dutch livestock production systems for cattle, sheep and goats. The net costs of the BT epidemic in 2006 (BT2006) has been valued at 32.4 million Euros and for the BT epidemic 2007 (BT2007) at 117-128 million Euros. The control measures constituted 91% of net costs of BT2006 and diagnosis costs, 7%. For BT2007, 90% of the net costs were production losses plus veterinary treatment, whereas only 9% was related to control measures. The cattle sector suffered 88% and 76% of the net costs for BT2006 and BT2007, respectively