The European
Commission has agreed to set up an emergency team of veterinary
experts.
This was done to
help speed up the response to animal diseases outbreaks, such as bird
flu, in EU and non-EU countries.
"Time is of the essence when it comes to bringing major outbreaks of
disease under control," EU Health Commissioner Markos Kyprianou said. "This EU
emergency team will enable us to respond quickly and effectively to future
animal health crises in the EU, and to offer fast support to third countries in
need of assistance," he added.
The Commission said that the aim of the of the new team would be to
have experts in the fields of veterinary, virology, wildlife, laboratory testing
and risk management on stand-by, ready to go in 24 to 36 hours, when a country
requests help or support.
The team is expected to be particularly useful in cases such as last year's outbreak of bluetongue in cattle and sheep, where
experienced southern EU member states were drafted in to help the northern
European countries deal with an outbreak for the first time.
The team will be selected annually by the Commission from lists of
experts submitted by individual member states.
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by
Editor WorldPoultry
Mar 1, 2007