FVE/01/042
03/04/01
Final
The Federation of Veterinarians of Europe (FVE)
represents all the veterinarians of Europe. Its biggest division is the Union
of European Veterinary Practitioners (UEVP), which represents all those in
practice.
FVE and UEVP together issue the
following statement.
The current outbreak of Foot and
Mouth Disease (FMD) in Europe is a disaster not only for agriculture but also
for many related enterprises and organisations. FVE and UEVP offer their
support to all those fighting to control the disease and to all those directly
or indirectly affected by it.
FVE and UEVP share the concern of the general public over
the death and destruction of large numbers of animals, many of which are not
infected with the disease.
This situation results
from several factors, among which is the non-vaccination and stamping out
policy adopted in the 1990s to eradicate the disease and to open new export
markets. This policy leaves however non-vaccinated countries vulnerable, as the
current outbreak demonstrates.
There has been extensive debate
on whether vaccination should be used to combat the current outbreaks. The
answer is not simple and, if vaccination is used, as part of the control
strategy, there are many ways in which it could be employed.
This is a risk management
decision, which must be based on epidemiological data, such as geographical and
climatic conditions, the density of the susceptible animal population, and the
susceptible species involved, as well as on ethical concerns and not on
economic grounds alone.
FVE and UEVP welcome the latest decisions from the European Commission
to allow emergency vaccinations in the Netherlands and in the UK as an
instrument of risk management.
Fate of vaccinated animals
It has to be recognised that the
killing and destroying of vaccinated animals requires a political decision and
depends on how quickly a country wishes to regain its FMD-free status.[i][i]
If FMD occurs in an FMD free
country or zone where vaccination is not practised (like the European Union)
and if the infected country has recourse to emergency vaccination, with stamping-out and serological
surveillance, the country can only regain its FMD free status 3 months
after the last case and after the slaughter of the last vaccinated animal.
If vaccinated animals are not
slaughtered, the situation is more complex and needs to be discussed in the
context of the International Animal Health Code of the Office International des Epizooties, the
world organisation for animal health.
On
the other hand, the Amsterdam Treaty recognised animals as sentient beings and
Member States consequently agreed that the Community and Member States shall
pay full regard to the welfare requirements of animals to ensure improved
protection and respect for the welfare of animals.
FVE and UEVP therefore urges Member States of the European Union and
the European Commission to explore with the Office International des Epizooties
the options for dealing with vaccinated animals and for minimising the
unnecessary slaughter of healthy animals to regain FMD free status.
Rehearsal of the FMD risk management strategy
This major outbreak demonstrates
that the European Union FMD risk management policy may not be appropriate or
that the risk assessment, on which it is based, should be reviewed.
FVE and UEVP call for a review of the FMD risk management
strategy. This review should include a discussion of the EU non-vaccination
policy as well as other aspects, which may have contributed to the seriousness
of the current outbreak.
The benefits of the
non-vaccination policy will have to be reviewed in the light of the current
developments. In that review the benefits of persevering with a non-vaccination
policy in order to preserve export markets have to be set against the
implications for the farming community, animal welfare, ethical values and the
acceptance of such a policy by the public.
FVE and UEVP call on the Commission to initiate a debate
on the non-vaccination policy, not only in regard to FMD but also to other
animal diseases such as Classical Swine Fever.
Marker vaccines and/or diagnostic
tools that could allow the vaccination of animals, whilst enabling to make a
distinction between vaccinated animals and animals carrying the virus, are
needed, as they could provide greater flexibility in the prevention and
combating of FMD outbreaks. Such marker vaccines and/or diagnostic tools are
however not yet available.
FVE and UEVP call on the European Commission, Member
States of the European Union and the pharmaceutical industry to actively pursue
the development of marker vaccines and/or diagnostic tools.
It is likely that the infection
originated from material entering the EU from a third country. This illustrates
the need for stricter controls at the European Union external borders.
FVE and UEVP call on the Commission and Member States to
introduce and implement tighter controls on imports from third countries so
that the same situation does not happen again.
It is also likely that this
infected material was fed to pigs and that the virus then spread from this
first contamination. Although, swill (i.e. treated household and catering
waste) fed to pigs should be heat treated to destroy possible pathogens[ii][ii], experience demonstrates that these
requirements are either not always sufficient or not complied with in all
cases.
FVE and UEVP therefore call
for a review of the practice of swill feeding and for a phasing out of such
activities.
It is also likely that the
original infection in the UK had been present on a farm for some time before it
was eventually discovered in a slaughterhouse during an ante-mortem inspection
and reported to the authorities. Had
the infection been diagnosed on the farm, earlier animal movement restrictions
would have been introduced, thus avoiding the spread of the virus and limiting
the total number of outbreaks.
FVE and UEVP therefore call for adequate veterinary
presence on all livestock holdings so that catastrophic diseases such as this
are identified more quickly. FVE and UEVP also call for the development of herd
health surveillance programmes involving routine visits by practicing
veterinary surgeons.
This major disease outbreak has
strained the State Veterinary Service of the Member States concerned to the
limit. This confirms previous reports from the Food and Veterinary Office of
the European Commission that many Member States of the European Union have
inadequate veterinary manpower to deal with not only animal health but also
animal welfare and veterinary public health requirements, including such
control measures as the BSE ones, imposed by the European Union legislation.
FVE and UEVP call on the Member States of the European Union to ensure
that their veterinary services are properly resourced.
The control of this outbreak has
been complicated by difficulties in tracing animal movements due in particular
to the lack of an effective system of identification of all farm animals.
Furthermore, the ANIMO system, used in the European Union to track movements of
animals between Member states of the European Union must be improved to a more
effective system.
FVE and UEVP call for the identification of all farm
animals allied to a more effective system for tracing all animal movements be
they international, within a Member State, or between individual livestock
holdings.
It seems that the spread of the
virus has been facilitated by intensive animal movements from farm to farm
throughout the UK, then from the UK to the continent and eventually from farm
to farm on the continent.
FVE and UEVP invite the
Commission and Member States to consider the introduction of standstill periods
to limit movements of animals recently introduced on a farm.