MARIENMsNSTER, Germany, Oct 20, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Ever since the bluetongue virus struck nearly a year ago, German farmer Ortrun Humpert has cared for sick sheep to contain a crisis and feels increasingly abandoned by authorities.

Humpert, who has been raising sheep in northwestern Germany's Marienmuenster since 1986 in a bid to save endangered breeds, has since lost 140 of her 500 sheep.

"It was a disaster waiting to happen," she sighed, denouncing the late arrival of a vaccine in June and the financial burden of a fast-spreading virus that has hit sheep farms across the country.

Bluetongue is a non-contagious, insect-borne viral disease that affects ruminants such as cows and sheep. It is difficult to control once it takes hold but is not a risk to humans.

The BTV-3 strain of the virus was first detected in the Netherlands in September 2023, before spreading to Germany the following month. Cases have been recorded across Europe, including in Belgium, France, Italy and Spain.

Bluetongue is transmitted by biting midges. Symptoms in infected animals include high fevers, mouth ulcers and swollen heads. It can lead to weakness and the loss of offspring for pregnant animals and is particularly deadly for sheep.

Climate change has worsened the spread of the virus, according to the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), as global warming impacts midge populations.

According to official figures, Germany has recorded some 10,000 outbreaks, accounting for around half the country's sheep farms and making it the "most aggressive" virus spread that sheep farmers have faced in decades, according to the German Sheep Breeders' Association (VDL).

The figure was five times higher than in neighbouring France, where a free vaccination campaign was launched as soon as the first cases appeared.

- 'On edge' -

Support for farmers in tackling the disease through vaccinations is patchy in Germany as the responsibility lies with local authorities in the country's 16 states, and farmers have to bear at least some of the cost of the jabs.

The federal government and regional states "are passing the buck and in the end it's the farmers who foot the bill", said Humpert, who also heads the sheep breeders' association for the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Humpert received just one euro ($1.10) per sheep from regional authorities, well below the actual vaccination expenses, which Humpert estimates at between five and 25 euros per sheep, including vet fees.

The cost is too high, Humpert says, for sheep farmers who according to the VDL earn an average of 6.50 euros per hour -- around half the minimum hourly wage in Germany.

The farmers also face the additional expenses of caring for the ailing sheep, disposing of dead animals and lost income.

"Sheep farmers' nerves are on edge," said Humpert, who has gathered her sick animals together in a barn.

Some have collapsed onto the straw, struggling to feed themselves.

- 'We need assurances' -

Other sheep, which have recovered, are grazing in the field.

"But for how long?" asked Humpert, noting that the current vaccine authorisation is set to expire in December.

"We need assurances that a vaccine will be available quickly next spring," she said, "and that farmers won't have to pay for it out of pocket."

In the absence of an EU-wide authorised vaccine, Germany is preparing to extend its approval of the current vaccine, a spokesman for the agriculture ministry told AFP.

But no special compensation fund is planned to help German farmers cope with the financial fallout from the virus, as the VDL has requested.

The World Organization for Animal Health has also recommended compensation, but the decision lies with individual countries.

In France, the government this month announced a 75-million-euro aid package for virus-hit sheep farms.

"We get the impression that, unlike in the rest of Europe, the subject is not being taken seriously by German authorities," said Humpert.