Overview

• France confirmed on October 4 a case of bovine nodular dermatitis in a veal farm at Castello d’Empúries, Catalonia.
• A prefectural order established a regulated surveillance area covering 75 communes in Pyrénées-Orientales, prohibiting cattle movements into, out of, and within the zone for breeding purposes.
• Authorities will decide early next week, in consultation with farm groups, whether to vaccinate cattle in the new zone, and the state reports sufficient vaccine stocks for an added campaign.
• Separately, the prefect of Ain lifted protection zones in Savoie, Haute-Savoie, and Ain, converting more than 200 communes to surveillance status with eased internal movements but continued enhanced biosecurity and limits on movements outside the perimeter.
• Since the first French detection on June 29, officials report 79 outbreaks across 47 farms; the disease is spread by biting insects, does not infect humans, and ongoing restrictions have left many alpine herds temporarily held with only limited, tightly controlled descents.