Bluetongue serotype 8 occured in Germany on 21 August 2006. Vaccines were developed in 2007. Given that the vaccines that came into consideration had not been authorised they were, prior to large scale-scale use, tested for effectiveness and innocuity in a field test on cattle and sheep. A seroconversion rate of  95 to 100%, protection after experimental infection and no side effects of the norm prompted the start of obligatory vaccination against BTV-8 on 20 May 2008 that was continued in 2009. Around 80% of all bovines and 88% of all sheep were vaccinated. The success of the vaccination could also be gathered from the number of detected BT cases: 2007 20,634; 2008 5,112 and 2009 145 outbreaks. No outbreaks occured in subsequent years. Intensive monitoring was conducted in 2010 ans 2011 in order to detect BTV circulation. On the basis of the monitoring results, Germany declared itself free from BT on 15 February 2012.

The results clearly show that rigorous vaccination with corresponding monitoring is capable of eliminating animal disease agents from the susceptible population. This finding is important as conventional control measures soon reach their limits in case of vector-borne diseases.