Brussels, 13/10/2006 (Agence Europe) - On 12 October, the European Commission announced that it had approved a financial package of more than €190 million to help Member States implement programmes to eradicate, control and monitor animal diseases in 2007.
Rabies, brucellosis and bovine tuberculosis: the EU will provide funding of €53 million to 47 programmes to combat certain diseases that are transmissible to humans, such as brucellosis (with €3.5 million for Spain, €2 million for Italy, €1.6 million for Portugal, €1.1 million for the United Kingdom and the same amount for Ireland), and tuberculosis (€3 million for Spain, €2.5 million for Italy, €11 million for Poland and €450,000 for Portugal).
€11.9 million will be allocated for the eradication of rabies which continues to be found in the East of Europe (Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovenia and Slovakia), as well as in Finland. Poland will receive the highest amount (€485 million). Vaccination of wild animals against rabies is carried out orally, using bait containing vaccine.
In addition, Spain will receive €49 million to combat bluetongue, and five Member States (Germany, France, Luxemburg, Slovenia and Slovakia) are putting in place measures to combat classical swine fever (€17 million of Community aid).
Zoonoses: €9.1 million of Community funding, 50% of total costs, will assist 18 Member States control zoonotic salmonella in poultry.
Bird flu: in 2007, Member States will continue to carry out surveillance for avian flu. The Commission has allocated almost €2 million to fund 50% of the costs of laboratory testing. The Commission points out that in 2006, surveillance programmes was very helpful in allowing the early detection of the virus in wild birds, before domestic poultry could be contaminated.
EST and BSE: €89 million has been agreed, in particular, for rapid testing for the detection of transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) in cattle, sheep, goats and, for the first time, deer and also discriminatory tests to exclude mad cow disease (bovine spongiform encephalopathy -BSE) in small ruminants (goats). In 2007, the EU will provide €54 million to co-fund BSE-eradication programmes.
Scrapie: over €33 million is being allocated to the approved scrapie eradication programmes in 20 Member States. EU legislation requires Member States to cull and/or genotype animals in infected flocks. (lc)