Schmallenberg Virus – A New Risk in Cattle Breeding in Europe

Since august 2011 europe has been facing a new virus which attacks the domestic and wild ruminants. The virus was named after the town where the first isolation had been made. The virus in question is transmitted by the biting midges (Culicoides spp.) and it can survive the winter in the bodies of those insects. it is also known that the virus does not endanger human health and it cannot be transferred directly from one animal to another because it is only carried by the vectors.