Brussels, 26/03/2001 (Agence Europe) - The European Union's Standing Veterinary Committee (SVC), which is to meet on Tuesday, should extend beyond 4 April the precautionary measures taken at Community level to combat the foot-and-mouth disease in four Member States (United Kingdom, the Netherlands, France and Ireland). Indeed, the epidemiological situation seems to be worsening in these countries: the Netherlands has announced having located a sixth outbreak, and France has no less than two, whereas the United Kingdom, which now officially has 607 (47 new outbreaks on Sunday alone), predicts this number increasing to 4000 by June. In these four countries, exports of live susceptible animals and the dispatch of meat products and milk from the affected areas are banned until 4 April.
On Friday, the SVC adopted a Commission draft decision enabling the Netherlands to use emergency vaccinations, of a preventative nature, on species (ovine, bovine, porcine, and caprine) susceptible of catching the foot-and-mouth disease in infected areas. This vaccination will have to be accompanied by a programme for the destruction of animals and can in no way substitute that. In an annex to the draft decision, that has now to be formally adopted by the Commission, are listed those conditions on how the vaccination can occur: - the area of vaccination must be located in a radius of 2 km of farms placed under surveillance; - all susceptible animals are concerned, independently of their age, sex or mode of farming; - the duration of the vaccination may not exceed 48 hours; - vaccinated animals must be marked and identified. The European Commission's spokesperson explained that "it is in no case a question of vaccination in the real sense of the term and even less so of the resumption of vaccination, to which all those responsible are opposed". Such one-off and targeted vaccination is provided for by a directive dating back to 1985 on measures to combat foot-and-mouth. This so-called "peri-focal" vaccination, aims to prevent animals condemned to destruction, but which cannot be culled immediately for logistical reasons, from contracting the disease and thereby multiplying the virus. The Commission stipulates that the effects of the vaccination are only felt between 6 to 10 days after its administration. The Netherlands should not yet use the vaccination as it currently has enough means of culling and incineration.
At the SVC meeting, France set out its intention of extending the precautionary measures in force in two departements (Mayenne and Orne) affected by the disease to throughout its territory. This while awaiting the results of investigations into "suspicions of fraudulent practices that are said to lie at the root of the 2nd outbreak" discovered in the region of Paris on Friday. Other than the ban of the dispatch of susceptible live animals, already in force since 8 March, meat, milk and meat products that have not undergone heat-treatment that destroys the foot-and-mouth virus may not leave the French territory. This provisional and unilateral measure applies since Saturday and will carry on doing so until the SVC has carried out a more in-depth investigation on Tuesday.
In addition, the SVC confirmed that chocolates, biscuits and bakery wares could not be contaminated by foot-and-mouth and were therefore excluded from the field of application of the protection measures. These products "may circulate freely inside and outside the European Union", says the SVC.