FOOT AND MOUTH DISEASE
Veterinary Risk Assessment (No.12)
What is the risk of causing new outbreaks of FMD by allowing male breeding animals to move without invoking the 20 day standstill rule?
The proposed relaxation of controls
In order to facilitate a return to normal breeding practices it is proposed that male animals should be permitted to move on and off farms without invoking a 20 day standstill on the destination farm and without having to undergo a 20 day standstill period on the farm of origin. The greatest need is obvious in sheep where the main ram sales are normally held in the first weeks of September. The proposal would allow male animals to move either directly from farm to farm, to and from artificial breeding facilities or via markets.
Summary of the risk factors
It can be concluded that the current risk of there being a case of undetected or incubating disease in susceptible livestock in Scotland is now "very low" - defined by EFSA as "very rare if present, but cannot be excluded". The veterinary consensus is that the risk of having a case of FMD in Scotland now approaches the background level of persistent risk that is ever present between relatively infrequent epidemics.
Undetected or incubating disease arising from the Surrey outbreak cannot be ruled out however, because it is not possible to quantify and eliminate all the possible risk factors. For example, there are no available data on the frequency of movements of people and vehicles from Surrey to Scotland and the very small unquantifiable risk of further cases cannot therefore be entirely eliminated.
Rams, billies, and bulls could be residing on a farm which is harbouring an undisclosed pocket of infection. Movement of an infected ram in a diseased or prodromal state could introduce the virus to another farm or to several other farms if the animal was moved through a market.
The vehicles used to transport animals could carry the virus to other farms.
Sales may be carried out on grass field which carry the risk that virus will survive longer than on impermeable surfaces, which can be cleansed and disinfected.
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Summary of risk reducing factors
There are many statutory controls which act to reduce risks. These include the pre-existing 6 day standstill periods applying to all farms in England & Wales and 13 day standstill periods in Scotland, introduced after the 2001 FMD epidemic. Pig premises are subject to different, more rigorous controls which restrict movements to within breeding pyramids and impose longer standstill period for movements which have taken place from outside the pyramid.
As soon as disease was suspected in Surrey on 2 August there were immediate restrictions on the movement of livestock from farms close to the original infected farm.
One of the most significant risk reduction measures has been the rapid introduction of the Restricted Zone measures which have prevented almost all movements of susceptible animals since the evening of Friday 3 August 2007.
Since the first movement relaxations were introduced there have been several thousand animals examined by veterinary surgeons at abattoirs, on-farm before licensed moves and in collection centres and markets. No confirmed reports of FMD have been recorded.
Male breeding animals are usually relatively valuable and handled as individuals by their vendors and prospective buyers, who take more care to examine the animals before and after sale.
Male animals moving to an artificial breeding facility would come under veterinary supervision on arrival and would have been under veterinary supervision before returning home.
Risk management
>before transport
• farmers/stockmen should regularly check their stock for disease, especially before being moved
• livestock must be transported in cleansed and disinfected vehicles
>at the sale or market
• all livestock must be inspected by a veterinary surgeon
• the identification of livestock at must be accurate
• the reporting of movements into and out of a sale must be accurate and rapid
>at the artificial breeding facility
• any proposed movement to or from the facility must be notified to the centre veterinarian
• stockmen should check animals soon after arrival
• any vehicles or trailers belonging to the purchaser used to transport animals to the farm must be cleansed and disinfected within 24 hours of arrival and in any event before transporting any further livestock
>market or sale fields
• markets or sales should not carry over stock from one sale to the next
• markets or sales should not have any resident or semi-permanent stock on site
• market fields and gravelled areas should be left empty for 27 days after use as FMD virus can survive for this time period
>at destination or return home
• farmers/stockmen should check animals soon after arrival
• any vehicles or trailers belonging to the purchaser used to transport animals to the farm must be cleansed and disinfected within 24 hours of arrival and in any event before transporting any further livestock
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SUMMARY OF THE RECOMMENDED ACTION
Farm to farm
Male animals for breeding may be moved from farm to farm without invoking the 20 day rule provided the conditions summarised above under the following headings:
• before transport
• at destination or return home
are complied with.
Farm to farm via a sale or market
Male animals for breeding may be moved from farm to farm via a market without invoking the 20 day rule provided the conditions summarised above under the following headings:
• before transport
• at the sale or show
• market fields
• at destination or return home
are complied with, in addition to the current rules regarding the conduct of markets in Scotland.
Artificial breeding
Male animals for breeding may be moved from farm to artificial breeding facility and back without invoking the 20 day rule provided the conditions summarised above under the following headings:
• before transport
• at the artificial breeding facility
• at destination or return home
are complied with.
Veterinary Division
Scottish Executive
28 August 2007
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