Open session of the standing technical committee of the EUFMD- 2000

7 Dr. B. Haas presented data (Appendix 11) demonstrating that very large quantities of intestines for sausage casings are imported into Europe from countries which are endemically infected with FMD virus. These products include small and large intestines, bladders and stomach from sheep and pigs. Dr Haas pointed out that neither the OIE International Animal Health Code nor Council Directive 92/118 EEC nor Decision 94/187 require any treatment of intestines that would destroy FMD virus. Since work by Bohm and Krebs in 1974 showed that cleaned and salted intestines from FMD infected sheep still contained FMD virus, it was concluded that the importation of those products constitutes a risk. It was recommended that studies are initiated to determine the feasibility of measures to reduce the risk associated with trade in these products and that this operation be submitted to the OIE Code Commission for consideration.

The next paper (Appendix 12) was presented jointly by Dr. V. Avilov and Dr. S. Doudnikov. They described the FMD situation during the last ten years in the Russian Federation and in the ex-USSR Transcaucasian countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia) and in the Central Asian Region (Kazakhstan, Kyrgystan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan). In the Russian Federation, outbreaks occurred in 1990, 1993, 1995 and 2000. All were eradicated as primary foci by stamping out combined with ring vaccination of all susceptible animals in an area within a radius of up to 30 km.

Since the break-up of the USSR there has been a decline in the level of FMD surveillance and disease control activities. There has been a resulting increase in the number of FMD outbreaks seen in the Transcaucasian and Central Asian regions. The Transcaucasian region is endemic for FMD. Georgia has had only one year (1994) during the last ten years without outbreaks, Armenia was FMD-free for only three years during that period. In Azerbaijan the last officially reported outbreak was in 1996 but there are unconfirmed reports of outbreaks since then. The surveillance data of the Central Asian region is incomplete and unreliable; this area is probably endemically infected.

A paper was given by Dr. T.A. Fomina (Appendix 13) who reported the results of a serological survey for antibodies to the 3 ABC non-structural polypeptide carried out in the spring-autumn of 1999-2000 in Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and the Volga region of the Russian Federation. In surveys conducted in 1999 and 2000 in the three Transcaucasian Republics samples from both cattle and sheep gave positive reactions. However, samples collected in three regions of Kalmykia and Krasnodar Territory in the Russian Federation were negative for antibodies to nonstructural proteins.

Conclusions: 1. There may be certain circumstances when the self-limiting infection of FMDV in sheep can permit different control strategies to be applied.

2. Intestines, bladders and stomachs from sheep and pigs for sausage casings imported into Europe from countries which are endemically infected with FMD virus constitutes a risk.