The Catalan Minister of Agriculture, Òscar Ordeig, has announced that all restrictions related to contagious nodular dermatosis (CND) in Catalonia will be lifted as of this Friday, as planned. Speaking to the media at the Catalan Parliament, he explained that this lifts restrictions on 1,124 farms and 165 municipalities affected by the latest outbreak in Capmany (Alt Empordà). The measure will allow the normal resumption of animal movement throughout the region, although Ordeig reiterated that vaccination is mandatory and that the sector must maintain "enhanced vigilance." He also stated that sampling and testing will continue to detect any new outbreaks. The Minister, who emphasized that 100% of animals entering farms must be vaccinated, appealed to everyone's sense of responsibility to prevent further health problems. Regarding the economic impact, he noted that €6.3 million in compensation has already been paid to the affected farms, in addition to the ICF loans made available during the crisis. Meanwhile, the government is working with the sector on a new aid package to help farms that had to carry out sanitary culling recover their productive potential. The goal, according to the regional minister, is to ensure that "no farm" is left out of operation and to prevent the loss of productive capacity, especially in the case of dairy farms, which will need more time to recover. The Catalan Beef Cattle Breeders Association (Asoprovac Catalunya) has estimated losses caused by the restrictions due to the outbreak of contagious nodular dermatosis in Girona at €4 million, as reported in a statement this Thursday. The president of the organization, Oriol Canal, emphasized that livestock farmers "have suffered a closure of commercial channels, a loss of clients and suppliers, and have had to maintain fixed costs without income."

The Catalan Minister of Agriculture, Òscar Ordeig, has announced that restrictions imposed on 79 Catalan municipalities due to outbreaks of contagious nodular dermatosis (CND) in France will be lifted this Friday, allowing 1,100 cattle farms in the area to resume moving their livestock. "We have a natural barrier of mountains, cold, and snow, and it was unreasonable that we should have to pay the price for the neighboring country's problems, especially given the large radius of the outbreak and the fact that all our farms are vaccinated," Ordeig stated from Lleida. The Minister explained that the decision was made after "intense and lengthy negotiations" between the European Commission, the Ministry of Agriculture, and the Catalan Department of Agriculture, "and with close collaboration from the entire sector." However, the regional minister reminded everyone that restrictions due to the dermatosis remain in place in 165 municipalities of the Alt Empordà region, where the last case was detected and where there are 1,079 farms. If all goes well and no new positive cases emerge in that area, this measure could be lifted on February 26. Meanwhile, Ordeig indicated that a solution is being negotiated with the Ministry and the European Commission to ease the movement of animals in the area. The Minister of Agriculture reiterated that the vaccination rate in the areas affected by positive cases is 99% and that a review of all animals is currently underway to ensure that none remain unvaccinated. Furthermore, Ordeig reported that it is "mandatory" for 100% of the animals to be vaccinated before January 31, and warned that "sanctioning procedures" will be initiated if this is not the case.

The Catalan government's Department of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries, and Food has confirmed a new outbreak of contagious nodular dermatosis (CND) in unvaccinated pasture-raised cattle on a farm in Capmany, in the Alt Empordà region. In a statement released this Wednesday, the department explained that the farm had only received partial vaccinations, which "reinforces the crucial importance of vaccination" in controlling the disease. The farm has an extensive herd of approximately 106 animals, and four animals have been confirmed in the laboratory to be infected with the field strain of the virus and to be exhibiting clinical symptoms, according to sources in the livestock sector. Following the detection of these new cases, the health protocol has been activated, which includes the culling of the affected animals and the establishment of a 20-kilometer protection zone and a 30-kilometer surveillance zone. Furthermore, animals on farms in the affected area have been quarantined, and the restrictions will last 45 days after the last slaughter. The department has assured that 100% of the animals in the districts affected by the outbreak protection zones are vaccinated, and that in the other districts where vaccination has been authorized, the figure is 80%. It also indicated that the deadline for vaccination is January 31st, and that from that day forward, no movement of unvaccinated animals will be permitted.

Around 350 tractors blocked the C-25 highway (the Eix Transversal) on Monday morning to protest the overpopulation of wildlife in Catalonia, in a demonstration organized by the main agricultural organizations in the region. The mobilization, which began at 9 a.m., brought farmers to the streets to demand, above all, "control of overpopulations of game animals"—especially wild boar, rabbits, roe deer, and red deer—and a "review" of the Livestock Health Service. The march was supported by Unió de Pagesos, Revolta Pagesa, Asaja, and the Plataforma Pagesos o Conejos (Farmers or Rabbits Platform).

The Catalan government has given the green light to a new phase of vaccination to combat contagious nodular dermatosis (CND), which, for the moment, It affects eighteen cattle farms in the Girona region.The Department of Agriculture will begin vaccinating approximately 370,000 animals outside the current restricted zones, expanding coverage to include Central Catalonia, the Pyrenees and the Aran Valley, as well as parts of the Barcelona, ​​Penedès, and Lleida regions. This measure comes after no new outbreaks of the disease have been declared outside the three existing restricted zones in Alt Empordà and Gironès since October 24. The new additional restricted zone comprises a total of 23 counties where no positive cases have been detected so far, but where vaccination is necessary as a precaution to prevent the spread of the highly contagious virus. Thus, from now on, Catalonia has two distinct vaccination zones: Zone 1, corresponding to the areas where the disease had been declared, and Zone 2, or the Additional Restriction Zone (ARZ), where the administration of doses is now beginning. Vaccination will be carried out simultaneously in both zones. The plan, developed jointly with the Ministry of Agriculture, was approved by the European Commission, which is responsible for validating all protocols related to this disease, considered a priority for eradication. The Spanish government's plan also anticipates starting vaccination in the easternmost part of Aragon, where many livestock farms are concentrated, and, for the time being, the Terres de l'Ebre region is the only area in Catalonia excluded from the cattle farm immunization protocols.

The fear among Spanish farmers and the different administrations that contagious nodular dermatosis (DNC) affecting the cattle sector And that the outbreak detected in Alt Empordà could spread to the rest of Spain is evident. In fact, this Tuesday the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food announced that it will allocate €660,000 to the purchase of vaccines against the disease, after the Council of Ministers approved the declaration of a health emergency. The Ministry reiterated that the responsibility lies with the regional governments, but considers emergency vaccination an "essential practice" to curb the spread of the disease, particularly "in the first weeks after the initial detection." In fact, the Ministry has submitted to the European Commission (EC) an expanded vaccination plan against the virus, covering new districts in Catalonia and Aragon, following the appearance of eighteen outbreaks on livestock farms in the province of Girona.

The outbreak of lumpy skin disease (LSD) that currently affects Seventeen dairy farms in Alt Empordà and one in Gironès, has all cattle farmers in Catalonia on tenterhooks. While the Department of Agriculture and Livestock's vaccination campaign progresses 50 km around the outbreaks of the disease, the sector is experiencing days of "fear" and "anxiety," hoping that the virus does not spread and the situation does not worsen further. Meanwhile, the markets remain stable, with a certain "tense calm" in the prices of milk and beef, as we await the impact of the disappearance, overnight, of the nearly 2,000 head of cattle that have already been recovered.

As new outbreaks of lumpy skin disease (LSD) appear in the Alt Empordà region, the number of vaccines administered to combat the disease is increasing. So far, up to 207,000 vaccines have been released so veterinarians can administer them on farms within the protected zones close to confirmed outbreaks, as announced by the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food, Luis Planas, at a press conference this Tuesday following the Council of Ministers. Planas explained that these doses arrived in three separate batches and that negotiations are underway to secure more.

A new case of lumpy skin disease in Cassà de la Selva (Gironès) on a farm with 151 cows, of which 4 have been affected. This is the tenth outbreak of the disease detected in Catalonia and the first to be declared outside of the Alt EmpordàThis, along with three other outbreaks detected in Northern Catalonia, has meant that the disease's protection radius has had to be modified.

Four more farms in the Empordà region have registered cases of cattle infected with the lumpy skin disease (LSD) virus, bringing the number of farms affected by the virus back to a new high in Catalonia, according to the Regional Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, and Fisheries, Òscar Ordeig, on Wednesday. All cases of the disease have been detected on nearby farms—located in the municipalities of Vilabertran, Peralada, and Pedret i Marzà, in the Alt Empordà region—and last week, the Catalan government began vaccinating all animals on farms within a 20-kilometer radius of the original outbreak, which began in early October.

Extreme concern in the Catalan livestock sector following the outbreak of lumpy skin disease (DNC) detected in Alt Empordà. So far, the infection has been confirmed in five cattle farms of Castelló d'Empúries and Peralada, which has forced the slaughter of more than 400 animals and the lockdown of 800 farms in the region, with a total of 93,000 affected calves, cows, and bulls. In order to mitigate the spread of this disease, which is highly contagious by simple contact, either between animals or through insects, the Department of Agriculture has begun vaccinating farms in Alto Empordà within a control radius of 5 km, which will soon be extended to 20. The vaccines come from France, where they have also been produced.

The Catalan government confirmed this Wednesday a third outbreak of lumpy skin disease (LSD, the disease that affects cattle) on a farm in Castelló d'Empúries. This brings the number of farms affected by the virus to three in Catalonia, all in the Alt Empordà region. Furthermore, the Catalan government's Department of Agriculture announced that it is postponing the start of animal vaccinations scheduled for this Wednesday by one day, until Thursday, due to problems with vaccine delivery.

Lumpy skin disease (LSD) has put the entire Catalan livestock sector on alert, and by extension, public administrations, especially the Generalitat (Catalan government) and the Spanish government, which this Wednesday began vaccinating some 90,000 cattle in the Girona region. This disease seriously affects cattle—that is, cows, bulls, oxen, and calves—and is highly contagious among these mammals, but has no effect on the health of humans or other animal species.

A second outbreak of lumpy skin disease (LSD), detected this past Monday A recent outbreak on a farm in Peralada (Alt Empordà) has forced the slaughter of all 270 dairy cows. This is the second farm where all livestock has been slaughtered to prevent the spread of the NCD virus. In light of these events, the Catalan government has approved a €4 million package to compensate the affected farmers for their losses while it prepares to begin vaccinating livestock on all farms within a 50-kilometer radius of the first outbreak this Wednesday.

The Generalitat (Catalan government) began this Saturday the slaughter of 123 calves from the Castelló d'Empúries farm in the Alt Empordà region (Girona), where the first case of lumpy skin disease (LSD) in Catalonia and Spain, a highly infectious disease among cattle, has been detected. It has also established a 20-kilometer security perimeter around the farm for 28 days and has immobilized 93,000 additional animals in the area.