Animal Diseases: The European Court of Auditors Finds Europe's Efforts to Combat Them to Be Generally Effective

The European Court of Auditors assessed the programs for the surveillance, control, and eradication of certain animal diseases implemented by the Member States. The audit covered seven representative countries: Ireland, Spain, France, Italy, Poland, Romania, and the United Kingdom. In its report* published on April 26, 2016, the Court concluded that the strategies for eradicating, controlling, and monitoring animal diseases are generally appropriate. Several successes have been achieved, although eradication—depending on the type of disease—is a long and complex process that can take decades. However, improvements are still needed.   The Court examined the design, implementation, and cost-effectiveness of animal disease control programs in the Member States, as well as the approach taken by the European Commission. The programs audited—which include measures such as animal vaccination, testing, and compensation for sanitary slaughter—received 1.3 billion euros in European funding over the 2009–2014 period. More than half of this EU financial contribution—generally set at 50% of the costs borne by Member States—went to four countries: Spain, France, Italy, and the United Kingdom. Overall, the national strategies put in place “adequately contain the spread of animal diseases ,” and “Member States have adequate systems in place to locate outbreaks of animal diseases and facilitate their eradication.” Nevertheless, the cost-effectiveness analysis—though difficult to conduct due to a lack of models—revealed certain shortcomings in controls, as well as excessively high costs in some countries. In addition, there is room for improvement in specific areas, such as information systems that could further facilitate the exchange of epidemiological data and access to results. The audit also noted that, despite the successful implementation of specific veterinary programs, the eradication of bovine tuberculosis and bovine, ovine, and caprine brucellosis continues to pose a challenge in some Member States. In Brussels, the Commission’s approach—which is based “on sound technical advice, adequate risk analysis, and a mechanism for prioritizing resource allocation”— is generally considered effective. Based on minimum performance indicators that national programs must meet, these guidelines have facilitated the coordination of the control efforts undertaken by each Member State. Notable successes include the decline in cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (from 2,000 BSE cases in 2001 to 10 cases in 2014), salmonellosis in poultry, and the decline in rabies among wildlife (from 3,708 to 305 cases in the EU-28 between 2005 and 2014). However, according to the auditors, the coverage of diseases of wild animals “would benefit from being expanded, particularly with regard to tuberculosis,” and the lack of availability of certain vaccines undermines the effectiveness of the programs. Accordingly, the Court makes four recommendations to the European Commission:

• facilitate the exchange of epidemiological information among Member States;
• examine whether the existing set of indicators should be updated to provide better information on veterinary control activities and the cost-effectiveness of the programs;
• systematically include, where appropriate, a “wildlife” component in veterinary programs;
• assist Member States in procuring vaccines if justified from an epidemiological standpoint.

  In recent years, the Union’s spending on animal health has decreased. However, while no crisis comparable to the 2001 foot-and-mouth disease epidemic has occurred since then, the Court of Auditors believes that Europe must prepare to respond to future crises and remain vigilant. Furthermore, it can sometimes take many years for eradication programs to achieve “disease-free” status. * Special Report No. 6/2016: “Surveillance, control, and eradication programs aimed at curbing the spread of animal diseases,” 2016, http://www.eca.europa.eu/fr/Pages/DocItem.aspx?did=36176  

Surveillance, Control, and Eradication

> Surveillance program: collection and recording of data from specific animal populations to assess the epidemiological trends of a disease (e.g., avian influenza). > Control program: maintaining the prevalence of an animal disease or zoonosis (Salmonella). > Eradication program: Aims to biologically eliminate an animal disease or zoonosis with the goal of achieving officially disease-free status, in accordance with EU legislation (bovine brucellosis).