FMD situation in Italy

Appendix 5( a)

Minutes of meeting teld at Ministry of Healt~ Rane, on 10 November 1986 Presentatioo aid discussion of FAO/El]FMD Mission findings· on tre EMO situation in Italy

Present:-

Ministry of Health, Rane

- Professor L. Bellani, Director-General of Veterinary Services - Professor A. Mattioli, Deputy Director-General of Veterinary Services - Dr. G. Di Guardo, Directorate of Veterinary Services

FAG/European Ccmmission for t.l':e Control of Fact-and-Mouth Disease

- Professor Dr. A. Ro j a.tn, Chairman - Dr. W.H.G. Rees, Vice-Chairman - Dr. F. Walla, member of t.r:e Executive Ccrrmittee - Dr. P. Stouraitis, Secretary, EUFMD - Ms J. Raftery, Administrative Assistant, EUFMD

Tte Chairman of tre European Corrmission for t.l':e Control of Foot-and-Mouth Disease, formally presented tte report of t.l':e EUFMD Mission to t.l':e Director General of Veterinary Services. In doing so, te reiterated tra willingness of tre Carmission- to assist Italy in t.l':e implementation of t.l':e reccmnendations put forward by tre group of experts wl'D had undertaken t.l':e Mission.

In r"eferring to tre conclusions and recamnendations contained in t.l':e Rep:,rt, tte Chairman underlined a number of points which were considered to be tactors of major importance in tre persistence of FMD in Italy i.e.

- relaxation of vigilance - large percenta:.;1e of susceptible animals not protected by vaccination - vaccination incorrectly applied - annual vaccination not carried out systematically - impracticability of applying stanping out policy on intensive livestock mldings - delay in dicgnosis, especially in pigs - delay in epizootiological investigations incorrect application of sanitary measures; lack of superv1s1on of animal movement, transport of animals, supervision at market level - absence of Task Force to cope with emergency animal disease situation

Tre Chairman informed tre Director General of Veterinary Services that it was the wish of tre Executive Committee that the recommendations contained in tte Report be discussed with him by tre representatives of tre Carmittee wl'D were present for tre purpose of reaching a:.;1reement on weys and means by which tre Carmission could support Italy in tte implementation of t.l':e recommendations.

He also informed Professor Bellani that tre Report would be discussed by tre Executive Ccmmittee of tre Ccmmission at its Forty-ninth Session which will be reld in Berne in February 1987, and trereafter at tre General Session of tre Carmission (27th) which will be teld in Rane in April 1987.

Before respondir..g to tre Chairman, Professor Bellani stated that re wisred to rear tl'E views· of tre Vice-Chairman, Dr. Rees, and ttose of Dr. Walla, and Dr. Stouraitis, wto had participated in the Mission.

Dr. Rees stated that re felt tre conclusions were sound. Tre situation called for tre taking of rigorous measures especially if politicians were to be convinced that in tre long term t.his would result in econanic benefit at national level. He stressed t.l:e need to set up a Task force to coordinate t.l:e action to be taken and strongly emprasized that such a Task Force srould be set up under proper autrority and power. He felt that tre measures to be taken were extremely urgent since the situation was nCM such that t:.e veterinary auttorities were forced to deal with tre disease as it appeared instead of being a.read of it; while partial sla.iglter was tre only action possible in sane cases, it could not resolve t:.e problem.

Dr. Walla addressed tre meeting briefly. He thanked tre Di~ectorGeneral of Veterinary Services for tre support given to tre Mission. He stated that re considered tte conclusions to be appropriate to this very difficult situation and that it would be impossible to eradicate the disease at this sta;;e wit.I-out a glob~ figh:. at national level.

Dr. Stouraitis stated that, as Secretary of tre FAO/EUFMD, re had followed closely tre evolution of tre FMD epizootics in Italy since 1984. He felt tr.at it was essential that a Central Veterinary Autrority srould supervise tre l.)rcmpt and proper implementation of national sanitary rules at USL level, and trat tre USLs srould be strengtrened if tre responsibilities entrusted to t.l-an following tre Riforma Sanitaria were to be carried out effectively. As regards disease dia;:inosis, vaccine production and control, re stated that it was essential that trese be .harnonized thrbug h t.te National Reference Laboratory.

Professor Bellani expressed his appreciation for tre pranpt response of the Commission to tre Italian Veterinary Autl-:crities' request for assistance.

He stated that re had read tre report of tre Mission with great interest and had found the conclusions and recommendations contained tJ-erein to be concise, realistic, and a :rost valuable basis for future action. It was his intention to present tre Report in its entirety to tJ-e Minister of Health and otter political autrori. ties concerned. In view of its importance and tre validity of tre reccmnendations put ::orward, it ·wauld be given maximum publicity at national level.

Referring to tre Conclusions, Professor Bellani stated that re considered Point 10, tre strUcture of tre Italian Veterinary Services following t.te Riforma Sanitaria cf 1978, to be of pararount importance.

The persistence of t:.e epizcotic, re stated, was due not only to the virus but also to tre lack of veterinary infrastructure. Despite tre existence of appropriate national laws and tre efficacy of tre vaccine and of tre vaccination wren carried out properly, F~ still persisted on tre national territory. In treory everything was perfect· but £ran a scienti::ic point of view, and in practice, tre system did not work.

Tre Director-General of Veterinary Services considered that tre disease situation in Italy was a prencmena of sue h importance that it warranted special study by the Commission. He stated that if the

Ccmnission were prepared to make a case study of tre Italian situation, tre Government would be prepared to accept tre results of such a study and to give it maximum consideration.

In putting forward this proposal, Professor Bellani, emphasized that the objective of such a mission would be essentially to evaluate the present situation with a view to detennining w.hf a country which practises mass vaccination has been faced with sue h extensive epizootics of FMD. He was of tre opinion that a t.rree-man mission canposed of a cost-benefit expert, a vaccine production expert and an epidaniolcgist would be necessary to undertake this task.

Tr:e Chairman of tre Comnission stated that in view of tre benefit to be derived fran such a study, not only· for Italy !Jut for tre European Community in general, tr:e Commission would do everything possible to arrange to carcy it out as soon as possible. It was considered that it would not be necessary for tre t.rree experts to undertake tre mission at t.r:e sane tiine. Tre Secretary would be entrusted with tre task of fi:iding tre appropriate experts and making t.r:e practical arrangements with tre Italian Government.

Professor Bellani informed tre meeting that this request 'NOuld be formally addressed to t.l"e Director-C-eneral of FAO by tre Minister of Health within tre caning weeks. He also requested that tre Secretary participate in meetings on a regional basis which would be organized to discuss t.r:e rei;::ort of tha Camrission and ascertain reactions to its recarmendations at regional level. It was cgreed that. tre Secretary give priority to tbis task.

Following furt.l"er discussion, it was cgreed that:

- on receipt of tr:e official request from the Italian Government arrangements would be made for qualified experts to undertake an in-depth study of tre Italian case,

- the Secretary would participate in meetings convened by t.l"e

Directorate of Veterinary Services at regional level,

- t.r:e findings of tre Mission would be discussed at tre Forty-ninth

Session of tre Executive Canmittee screduled to be reld in Berne in ?ebruary 1987; at this meeting t.l"e Secretary would also present a report on tre rea::tion at re:.;i-ional level in Italy to tre findings of tre Mission:

- t.r:e findings of tre Mission, t.te Secretary's report on t.r:e meetings in

Italy, and the study carried out by the three experts would be discussed at tre Twenty-seventh General Session of tre Ccrrn:nission to be reld in Rome in April 1987.