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be invited to send representatives to these rneetings. The reports of these meetings will be made available also to the European Commission. The proposed agreement was accepted by· the Executive Committee at its It will be submitted for meeting in Vienna on 22 - 24 September 1959, approval, at the XXVIIIth OIE Session in May, 1960, POSITION OF FOOT-AND-MOUTH DISEASE IN EUROPE Delegations of Member Countries and olJServers gave accounts of the position. The following are swnmaries of their statements: In Portugal there were a considerable number of outbreaks during 1959. The disease spread from the eastern part of the country which first became infected from Spain where foot-and-mouth disease is enzootic. Strict police sanitary measures were adopted in controlling the disease and some vaccination, using vaccine imported from the Netherlands was carried out with satisfactory results. The country is again free of foot-and-mouth disease. Virus type A caused the outbreaks, Plans are now being considered for the establishment of a foot-and-mouth disease institute in Portugal. It was reported by the delegation of Portugal that foot-and-mouth disease continuel':l to be i"Jresent in Spain and that virus types O, A and C cause outbreaks. In Belgium there were only 51 outbreaks in 1959g it was stated that the disease was less prevalent in 1959 than in any year since 1950, In November 1959, however, a small epizootic occurred in two prbvinces on the Franco-Belgian frontieri the invasion being apparently from France. Some 350,000 cattle have been vaccinated and no further outbreaks have been reported in the area simce 25 February of this year. Movement of animals in those provinces was pro Typing of virus was carried out from hibited except for those for slaughter� each outbreak _in which suitable material was available. In all, 16 samples were typed and in each, virus type A was identified. Since .A,pril 1959 ? only three small outbreaks have occurred in the Nether lands. . The disease appeared in February 1960, firstly in an isolated farm some 30 km. from Amsterdam, in young cattle vn1ich had been vaccinated only once. The second outbreak, also near Amsterdam, was in unvaccinated pigs The third· outbreak ? which occurred a few days later, was on and sheep. premises· some 30-40 km. south of Amsterdam: 7 unvaccinated young cattle were infected. In each outbreak virus type O was identified, All the animals involved were slaughtered and strict police sanitary measures were imposed, From careful enquiries it seemed highly probable that all three outbreaks were associated with the �scape of virus from the Foot-and-Mouth Disease Institute, Amsterdam, through the Amsterdam abattoir, part of which is reserved for accommodating cattle used in testing vaccines, Precautions are in force for the prevention of leakage of virus from the Institute and the abattoir and stricter measures are now receiving consideration. Immediately before the - F - 1;.015
