A dose for every cow: Luxembourg is vaccinating livestock
Stijn te Strake, Unsplash
In 2024, an outbreak of the serotype BTV3 of bluetongue virus severely affected Luxembourg livestock farms. In 2025, the disease continues to be a threat and there is a risk of the return of serotype BTV8 and the spread of epizootic haemorrhagic disease (EHD), which poses an additional risk to cattle.
To protect animals and reduce economic losses to farmers, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Wine has launched a voluntary vaccination against the three viruses.
The state picks up the cost of:
- vaccine procurement,
- veterinary visits (up to 4 times),
- administering vaccinations,
- entering vaccination data into the database.
Farmers only pay for the vet's working time, which is valued at €90 per hour (excluding VAT).
Detailed information on the vaccination procedure is available on the agriculture portal.
Additionally, a meeting organised by the Chamber of Agriculture, Convis, LDB, ALVA and LGP on the prevention of bluetongue and epizootic haemorrhagic disease will be held on 10 February at 20:00 at LTA Gilsdorf.
Luxembourg emphasises prevention, reducing the financial burden on farmers and preventing the spread of dangerous diseases among livestock.
