The counselor of Agriculture, Livestock, and Natural Environment has ratified that, as of today, in the autonomous community of Extremadura, no suspicious focus of the Shamonda virus has been identified in the livestock, so the region remains free of this disease.
He explained that it is a virus that, like everything "new" that appears, is generating "the necessary caution," although he wanted to lower the level of alarm by considering that the risk it poses is lower compared to other infections that affect livestock more severely.
In this context, he referred to the case of the first death in humans recorded in France, which, he indicated, is "relatively in question" due to the state of the victim, who was "very immunocompromised" due to another pathology. In this regard, he emphasized that "that person could have perfectly died from the Shamonda virus, as they did, or from the flu virus, or from a conventional cold."
The regional official insisted that transmission to humans is "practically nonexistent," in light of the information accumulated since the virus was detected in Africa in the 1960s, where "there have been no described cases of infection among humans." Even so, and within the "caution that these cases deserve, the expectation is not that we are going to have a fairly noticeable problem with the Shamonda virus," he pointed out.
Regarding the effects on livestock, he detailed that the clinical picture associated with this virus is generally limited to about 8 days of loss of appetite, decrease in milk production, and some fever, but "it is not causing mortality as in other cases of infections."
He specified, however, that "some type of abortion" is being observed in pregnant cows, which can cause "economic losses," although confined to the gestation period.
The irrigation of Tierra de Barros progresses without delays
In the same appearance, called at the headquarters of the ministry to inform about the approval of aid to agricultural operations, the counselor was asked about the progress of the Tierra de Barros irrigation project, which, he stated, is going "full steam ahead."
He has recalled that this is an initiative already underway, with the funding "guaranteed" by the Junta de Extremadura, and that is progressing "gradually without any kind of pause" and according to the established schedule, so that "the forecast is that the machines will come in at the beginning of the year."
Finally, he has avoided commenting on the agreement reached by the 27 this past Monday regarding the Common Agricultural Policy, considering it necessary to analyze its content in detail before offering an assessment.