WRITTEN QUESTION E-0602/00

by Giovanni Pittella (PSE) to the Commission

(3 March 2000)

Subject: Outbreak of avian influenza in some parts of Italy

In connection with the avian flu epidemic currently affecting some parts of Italy, which has led to the death or slaughter of seven million birds.

Can the Commission state:

- what methods were used for the slaughter of the birds that did not die as a direct cause of the epidemic, who they were slaughtered by, on whose authorisation and at which sites and how many birds have been slaughtered;

- whether and in what way the provisions of Directive 93/119/EC(1) (transposed by means of Legislative Decree No 333 of 1 September 1998) have been complied with;

- what method has been chosen for the disposal of the birds slaughtered as a result of the epidemic?

(1) OJ L 340, 31.12.1993, p. 21.

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(14 April 2000)

By mid March 2000 the Italian authorities had reported 368 outbreaks of avian influenza. The outbreaks have occurred in different kinds of species and production types. About 12,2 million birds have been killed at infected poultry farms and 3 million at farms considered as contact farms or as being high risk farms.

Exact data for birds that died because of the disease and those which have definitively been killed in the affected farms are not yet available. One reason for the missing figures is that the disease can cause mortality that can reach up to 100 % in a very short period of time. Animals often die while arrangements for their destruction are being made.

The method of killing birds was discussed at the meeting of the standing veterinary committee in January and again in March 2000. At the later meeting the Italian delegation announced that the provisions of Council Directive 93/119/EEC on the protection of animals at the time of slaughter or killing(1) were being applied. This Directive (Annex C) lists the permitted methods of killing poultry as electrocution, exposure to carbon dioxide, decapitation, dislocation of the neck and the use of a vacuum chamber. During execution specific requirements must be fulfilled within the framework of the overall objective (Article 3) of this Directive; thus to spare animals any avoidable excitement, pain or suffering during movement, lairaging, restraint, stunning, slaughter or killing. In addition to the killing methods referred to above the competent authority may apply other killing methods for disease control during epidemics (Annex E). In such

situations the methods applied must be in compliance with the general provisions of Article 3 of the Directive. The Italian epidemiological centre for the region of Veneto has, in co-operation with the national reference laboratory for avian influenza, published an operational manual(2) in case of occurrence of avian influenza. This manual comprises the different methods for the killing of different types of poultry flocks.

Carcasses of dead birds were either buried or taken to rendering plants.

(1) OJ L 340, 31.12.1993.

(2) Manuale Operativo in caso di Influenza aviaria, Anno 1999, Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie, Centro Regionale Epidemiologia Veterinaria Regione Veneto, Laboratorio Nazionale di Riferimento Influenza aviaria.