Evolving perceptions of bluetongue: A challenge for government and industry

From the first discovery of bluetongue virus activity in Canada in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia in 1976 to the present, more than 175,000 sera from cattle in Canada have been tested for the presence of bluetongue antibody during the course of disease investigations and during regional or national surveys. Serological reactors have been detected only in cattle resident in the Okanagan Valley or in those originating in the United States.Despite the regional nature of the distribution of antibody to bluetongue, international trade sanctions were applied on a nationwide basis. The strategy of the federal government for limiting the international, as well as the domestic, impact of bluetongue has evolved over the past 15 years as the epizootiology of bluetongue has become better understood. This new information is also ameliorating somewhat international attitudes toward nations which experience infections.