Analyses carried out on six sheep and cattle farms in Guipúzcoa province yesterday yielded four new positive results, raising the total number of farms affected by the blue tongue virus to thirteen. So far, no cases have been detected in the provinces of Álava or Vizcaya.

To prevent the disease from spreading further, herds are being vaccinated and livestock movement restrictions, already in place in all three Basque provinces, have now been enforced in Huesca, Zaragoza, Burgos, Soria, La Rioja as well as parts of the Cantabria region and southern France that fall within a 150km radius of Oiartzun, where the first case was detected.

So far, 60 cases have been detected in Guipúzcoa, which has a total sheep and cattle population of 205,000, and 39 sheep have died.