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EU Veterinary Experts Back Poultry Vaccination in France, Netherlands

Posted on: Thursday, 23 February 2006, 09:01 CST

EU veterinary experts back poultry vaccination in France, Netherlands

BRUSSELS, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- EU veterinary experts on Wednesday approved requests from France and the Netherlands for certain poultry in the two countries to be vaccinated against bird flu.

Vaccinations of ducks and geese in the French regions of Landes, Loire-Atlantique and Vendee, which are considered to be high risk avian flu areas, will begin immediately in a program set to end on April 1.

Around 900,000 birds in France are expected to be immunized against the H5N1 virus during the period, the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, said in a statement.

The Dutch vaccination plan applies to hobby poultry and free- range laying hens throughout the whole country. There are between 1 and 3 million hobby birds and around 5 million free-range laying hens in the Netherlands.

Vaccinations will be provided on a voluntary basis, as an alternative to the requirement that these birds be kept indoors.

The EU Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health, made up of veterinary experts from the 25 member states, authorized the plans, which are the first vaccination programs against highly pathogenic avian flu in the EU.

The programs will be subject to rigorous surveillance and control requirements, including movement restrictions, monitoring of vaccinated flocks to ensure that there is no undetected avian flu outbreak and careful record-keeping.

Vaccinated poultry must be differentiated from poultry and birds with the avian flu virus. The trade of vaccinated birds and their products is also subject to strict conditions.

EU Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection Markos Kyprianou said on Wednesday that recent cases of avian flu in wild birds in the EU had compounded the need to explore every possible option to protect poultry from the virus.

"Targeted preventive vaccination, accompanied by sufficient guarantees... can be an effective tool when coupled with the rigorous preventive measures already in place in the EU," he said.

As spring migration approaches, he urged all member states to remain on high-alert for any signs of bird flu and to continue applying all the precautionary measures agreed by the EU.

According to the plans approved on Wednesday, vaccinated live poultry in France, their hatching eggs and day-old chicks cannot be exported or moved to another EU member state or third country.

Within France, vaccinated birds can only be moved to other vaccinated holdings; to holdings where there is complete separation of vaccinated and non-vaccinated birds; or to a slaughterhouse for immediate slaughter.

Fresh meat and meat products from the vaccinated poultry can be marketed in the EU and dispatched to countries outside the bloc, provided that it comes from holdings which have complied with all requirements.

In the Netherlands, vaccinated hobby poultry will only be allowed to be moved to other vaccinated backyard holdings in the country subject to permission from the authorities.

Movement of these birds to another EU member state will require authorization from both the Dutch authorities and the authorities of the recipient country.

Any packaging or means of transport used for vaccinated birds and their products must be properly washed and disinfected.

Source: Xinhua News Agency - CEIS

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