EU to spend Euro 187m to combat animal diseases transmissible to humans
The European Commission is to allocate Euro 187m in 2008 to finance programmes to combat animal diseases that can have consequences for human health.
The European Commission is to allocate Euro 187m in 2008 to finance programmes to combat animal diseases that can have consequences for human health.
The Commission said that 197 annual or multi-annual programmes have been retained, which aim to eradicate, control and monitor animal diseases. About €70m will be dedicated to 61 annual or multi-annual programmes for which the priority will be diseases that can be transmitted to humans, such as brucellosis, tuberculosis and rabies.
"Following the success of the programmes in recent years which have virtually eradicated rabies in the western part of the EU, most of the activity in 2008 will be focused towards the eastern Member States," the Commission said. It added that €13.8m will be allocated for this. These programmes aim to immunise wildlife through oral vaccination, with the help of baits containing the vaccine.
For bird flu, the Commission's financial contribution for surveillance by the Member States of poultry and wild birds will be €4.3m, to contribute to the costs generated by laboratory testing and wild birds sampling. In addition, €8.6m -three times the amount for 2007 - will go to combating zoonotic salmonella in poultry breeder flocks and €21.3m for laying hen flocks.
The Commission will also give €62.5m for monitoring transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) for rapid screening tests to be carried out in cattle, sheep, goats and deer and also discriminatory tests to exclude bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in small ruminants.
The EU will cofund BSE eradication programmes with a contribution of €2.54m and will give €18.2m to eradicate scrapie.