The European Commission last week announced new rules under the European Animal Health Law to harmonize the vaccination of animals against the most serious animal diseases in the member states.

This adjustment is part of an effort to fight the largest avian flu epidemic to date in the European Union.

Avian influenza is a highly contagious viral disease that primarily affects poultry and wild waterfowl. There are two strains of virus: high and low pathogenic viruses, known as HPAI and LPAI, respectively.

Last year, Europe was hit by the worst outbreak of bird flu to date. The outbreaks and the necessary measures to combat them pose a serious threat to the poultry industry and our pigeon sport. The latest quarterly report from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) lists an unprecedented number of outbreaks between October 2021 and September 2022 in 37 European countries , killing 50 million domestic fowl and birds in affected facilities. The virus has also wreaked havoc in the United States over the past year and is currently on the rise in South America and parts of Asia. The virus is by far not only found in birds, but has recently also been detected more frequently in a large number of land and sea mammals.

Existing European regulations are therefore being amended to tackle the most severe form of bird flu, HPAI. Where previously prohibited, Member States are now allowed, under very strict conditions, to use animal vaccines (both human-born and wild, terrestrial and aquatic, including all bird species) to prevent and control HPAI. The updated legislation will come into force on March 12 and was written in accordance with the international standards of the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH, formerly OIE).

According to a statement by the European Commission, this is to ensure that the safe movement of animals and products from farms and areas where vaccination has taken place can resume.

Amid the worst wave of outbreaks in the European Union's recent history, Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Stella Kyriakides said that “fighting bird flu is one of our top priorities”. “These outbreaks cause enormous damage to the agricultural sector and hamper trade”, she explained in a statement.

AVEC, the representative of the European poultry industry, welcomes the transition to a common EU framework for vaccination. It is becoming increasingly difficult to control the spread of HPAI without vaccination. However, they warn that vaccination cannot be the only solution to all avian flu problems. Adequate post-vaccination surveillance is still required to control outbreaks on poultry farms.

There is currently no approved avian influenza vaccine that can be used in poultry and birds. Research and trials are currently underway in France and the Netherlands. With the new legislation, the European Commission is already enabling Member States to quickly deploy a vaccine to contain serious outbreaks on their territory in future emergencies.

Vaccination program and risk assessment

In future, approved vaccines against avian influenza may only be used by the member states as part of an official vaccination programme. Before vaccination, Member States must inform each other and the European Commission.

In addition, the use of the vaccine will always be under the supervision of an official veterinarian who will control the distribution and administration of the vaccine.

As vaccination may be an appropriate means of controlling or eradicating a disease such as avian influenza in certain circumstances but not in others, and since its use can sometimes have negative consequences (e.g. for trade), Member States need to carry out a risk assessment carry out before they are allowed to vaccinate.

The risk assessment that precedes a vaccination program against HPAI therefore also includes an economic assessment, including a cost-benefit analysis and the identification of the impact on the disease-free status of the Member State concerned and the trade restrictions that third countries or territories might impose as a result of the vaccination .

The European Commission will carry out this assessment in each individual case.

Incidentally, this restriction on the use of vaccines against avian influenza does not apply to vaccines against Newcastle disease (so-called “pseudo avian influenza”). Vaccination against Newcastle disease is already compulsory for movements of birds within the European Union and for imports into the Union from third countries. This practice has proven safe and effective in preventing Newcastle disease and is retained without additional restrictions.

Member States can implement two types of vaccination programs against avian influenza: emergency vaccination and preventive vaccination.

Emergency vaccination during outbreaks

Two geographic zones, a vaccination zone and a peri-vaccination zone, will be established as part of emergency vaccination for a period of time (similar to the surveillance and protection zones already established for the current HPAI outbreaks), with increased clinical and laboratory surveillance to monitor the Evaluate vaccination effectiveness and identify any new outbreaks within the zones.

If the zones are on the territory of different Member States, the competent authorities shall cooperate in setting them up.

The competent authority may carry out emergency vaccinations in both affected and non-affected establishments. These establishments are usually located in the restricted zones, but they can also be located outside of these zones.

Depending on the situation, different emergency vaccination strategies can be used. Vaccination on affected farms where the vaccinated animals are killed is considered suppressive emergency vaccination. Emergency vaccination may also be carried out to prevent the spread of the disease in animal populations exposed to the infection and kept on holdings where the disease has not yet been suspected or confirmed. In such cases, the animals can be killed or kept alive under special conditions.

Emergency vaccination can also be carried out in wild animals if the risk of spreading the disease in kept or wild animal populations so requires.

For the movement of animals within the vaccination zones, a number of conditions must be met and the movement must be authorized by the competent authority. Any movement abroad must still be accompanied by an official animal health certificate issued by the government.

Preventive vaccination

In order to prevent the spread of avian influenza or avoid possible losses and the need for drastic disease control measures, Member States can also decide, under strict conditions, to vaccinate certain holdings preventively, even if the disease does not occur in a country or zone.

Effects on the pigeon sport and trade

The approval of vaccination against avian influenza could potentially solve the numerous problems that currently exist for the continuation of pigeon racing on the European continent and the international trade in carrier pigeons. However, much depends on how the legislation will be implemented in practice in the future, what trade arrangements European Member States can enter into with third countries for the export of poultry and captive birds, and the extent to which vaccines prove to be an effective way to combat the spread of HPAI among poultry and captive birds.

For these reasons, the FCI (Fédération Colombophiles International) Veterinary Committee is currently consulting with the European Commission and WOAH to better adapt European legislation and international standards to the pigeon sport and trade.

Those: www.pipa.be