The European Commission has approved a financial package to fight animal disease with human health implications. The move is also aimed to tackle diseases that constitute as a barrier to intra-EU or international trade in 2004.
"The continuing support of the European Union for disease eradication programmes is a reflection of our commitment to continue the EU's efforts to improve the health status of the EU's livestock which is important from the point of view of protecting animal health and which will in turn be crucial in preserving human health," said David Byrne, commissioner for health and consumer protection.
The European Union (EU) will contribute €92.64 million for financing BSE and scrapie monitoring and eradication in the Member States and accession countries. The Commission has also adopted funding provisions for the 2004 programmes to eradicate other animal diseases like brucellosis or rabies and prevent zoonoses. The EU state they will contribute €54.29 million from resources in the veterinary field for these programmes in the Member States and some accession countries.
"Testing programmes are a successful and important instrument to identify the scale of BSE and scrapie in the European Union. The introduction of the compulsory BSE test has proven how important they are - in addition to safety legislation - to detect BSE in cattle and to keep infected animals out of the food and feed chain. Intensive testing in sheep and goats has given a clearer picture of the incidence of TSEs in these animals," said Byrne.
The new transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE) monitoring and eradication programmes calls for all cattle for human consumption older than 30 months and all suspect animals independent of their age to be tested for BSE. In member states such as Sweden with a lower BSE risk, healthy slaughtered animals over 30 months will be subject to random sampling.
It is claimed by the Commission that in the year 2004, around 10 million cattle will be tested for BSE - the test being co-financed by the EU. The Commission has now adopted the maximum possible EU financial contribution towards the programmes of the Member States and accession countries and €92.64 million will be made available from the EU budget for the monitoring of TSE and for the eradication of scrapie.
The Commission is also required each year to adopt a list of programmes for the eradication and monitoring of animal diseases and for the control of zoonoses qualifying for a financial contribution from the EU as well as the proposed rate and amount of the contribution for each programme. The Commission has drawn up a list qualifying for financial contribution with a total of 68 programmes for 2004 for the eradication of 10 major animal diseases in the member states and accession countries.
The total EU contribution to these programmes is €51.89 million with €29 million to be spent on the eradication of brucellosis. Brucellosis disease causes Malta fever in humans and 1,778 cases were notified to the EU reporting system in 2001.
Bovine tuberculosis is also known to be transmissible to humans so significant sums will also be used to combat the remaining cases of the disease. A further €4.4 million will be spent to fight rabies and €2.4 million to help control salmonella in 5 member states and 2 accession countries.