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The EU earmarked yesterday more than €203 million to support programmes to eradicate, control and monitor animal diseases and zoonoses, aiming to further strengthen the protection of human and animal health in 2012. The decision was taken at the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health (SCoFCAH), where Member States also unanimously endorsed the Commission proposals to contribute €11.5 million for the emergency measures and vaccination plans taken to combat some animal diseases over the past four years.
The success of the eradication programmes can be tangibly measured by a decrease in the disease prevalence, which leads to less money spent for co-financing (€45 million less in 2012 compared to 2011).
Overall,138 annual or multi-annual programmes have been selected for EU funding to tackle animal diseases that impact human and animal health and trade.
On Classical Swine Fever, a disease with devastating social and economic losses for the pig sector, the situation is quite favourable and €3.7 million has been allocated in 2012.
Salmonellosis is the second most frequently reported zoonotic disease in humans, but with a steadily decreasing trend of several thousand cases annually in the notification rate of salmonellosis cases in humans over the past five years. About €16 million are being made available from the EU budget in 2012.
The approved €11.5 million in support of emergency measures will be distributed as follows:
• avian influenza the Netherlands (€54 000), Germany (€4 million), Spain (€500 000) , Poland (€750 000),
• swine vesicular disease in Italy (€93 000),
• Newcastle disease in Spain (€103 000),
• bluetongue in Germany (€1 950 000),
• bluetongue emergency vaccination the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Austria, Sweden, Italy and France (total around €4 million).
Outbreaks of Foot and Mouth disease (FMD) occurred in Bulgaria in 2011. FMD is a highly contagious viral disease in wild and domestic cloven-hoofed animals (e.g. pigs, wild boars) with a severe impact on farmers and trade. The Union has granted a financial contribution of €890 000 to support Bulgaria for certain measures like surveillance, database, information campaigns, laboratories and disinfection aiming to control the spreading of FMD in wild animals in the South-East of Bulgaria in 2011-2012.
Thursday November 10, 2011/ European Commission/ European Union.
http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do
