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Bovine Brucellosis
Bovine brucellosis is a regulated, notifiable disease. The disease is also included in the redhibitory diseases. An official monitoring programme is in force.
Official brucellosis surveillance programme
Having "official brucellosis-free status" is based on a surveillance programme, consisting of:
- each abortion or premature birth is subject to compulsory notification to the FASFC and testing for brucellosis is mandatory. Aborting females should be kept in isolation until the results of the investigation exclude a Brucella infection. The FASFC funds the collection of aborted foetuses or premature calves and analyses (abortion protocol);
- analysis of the purchase of animals originating from or born in a non-brucellosis-free Member State or region or imported from a third country;
- recurrent monitoring for 3 consecutive years of animals purchased from a non-brucellosis-free Member State or region or imported from a third country;
- a random selection of a number of herds where no abortion notification was registered over the last 3 years and where female animals are present. A maximum of 20 female animals over the age of 24 months are randomly selected for serological tests
- all dairy herds are controlled twice a year by an ELISA of bulk milk.
Blood sera are serial tested for brucellosis by micro-agglutination and an indirect ELISA as screening tests. In the event of a positive result, a concurrent ELISA is performed as confirmatory test at the National Reference Laboratory. Mandatory slaughter for bacteriological examination is done in case of serological and/or epidemiological suspicion. An animal is legally suspected of brucellosis in the event of a positive confirmatory ELISA carried out by the NRL. If, according to the epidemiology, an animal or herd is found to be at risk, a bacteriological test is carried out. As such, a brucellosis-infected animal is defined as an animal in which Brucella has been isolated and a cattle herd is considered as infected if one of its animals is positive for brucellosis by culture.
Control measures in Belgium
Vaccination is prohibited. If brucellosis is confirmed in a bovine animal, the entire herd is culled.
Legislation
European legislation
The European rules regarding the surveillance of brucellosis are laid down in Council Directive 64/432/EEC of 26 June 1964 on animal health problems affecting intra-Community trade in bovine animals and swine.
Belgian legislation
The Belgian legislation regarding brucellosis is laid down in the Royal Decree of 6 December 1978.
Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE)
Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) is an official notifiable disease. The last 2 cases in Belgium date from 2006.
In 2012, Belgium obtained the ‘negligible risk status regarding BSE’ from the OIE.
Control measures in Belgium
The BSE control measures in Belgium consist of the following elements:
- Active monitoring using systematic rapid TSE testing:
- on bovine animals at risk which have either died or been emergency slaughtered;
- on healthy bovine animals more than 30 months old and born in Bulgaria, Romania or a non-EU Member State;
- Clinical surveillance (farms, markets, slaughterhouses) of live ruminants, together with the mandatory declaration, the culling and laboratory examination of the central nervous system of suspect animals;
- The destruction of affected bovine animals, bovine animals belonging to the feed or birth cohort of the positive animal, and offspring of affected female animals;
- The removal of specified risk material (SRM) in slaughterhouses, cutting plants, butcheries and rendering plants;
- The ban on animal proteins in farm animal feed (feed ban);
- The application of various techniques for slaughtering bovine animals and cutting beef intended to avoid the contamination of meat with SRMs;
The application of all kinds of bans and restrictions on the import or export of certain animal products to third countries with an undetermined BSE risk. An updated list of countries is available on the website of the OIE.
BSE surveillance in Belgium
Animals slaughtered for human consumption
The following animals are automatically subject to rapid TSE testing in slaughterhouses:
- bovine animals emergency slaughtered who are more than 48 months old, and born in Belgium, Czech Republic, Croatia, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Finland, Sweden and the United Kingdom (including the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man);
- bovine animals emergency slaughtered who are more than 24 months old and born in Bulgaria, Romania or a non-EU Member State;
- healthy bovine animals for slaughter who are more than 30 months old and born in Bulgaria, Romania or a non-EU Member State;
Animals not slaughtered for human consumption
The following animals are subject to rapid TSE testing in both the rendering plant and the autopsy room:
- all bovine animals more than 48 months old, and born in Belgium, Czech Republic, Croatia, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Finland, Sweden and the United Kingdom (including the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man) and which have died or been killed for a purpose other than human consumption;
- all bovine animals more than 24 months old born in Bulgaria, Romania or a non-EU Member State, and which have died or been killed for a purpose other than human consumption.
In connection with the eradication of animals killed by BSE
All bovine animals more than 12 months old culled after the identification of a BSE case shall be automatically subject to rapid TSE testing.
Clinically suspect animals
Live bovine animals showing symptoms which point to BSE, or atypical symptoms related to the nervous system, whereby BSE cannot be definitively ruled out, shall be officially declared to be suspected of BSE, killed by euthanasia and subjected to official laboratory tests allowing the diagnosis or ruling out of BSE.
Legislation
European legislation
All measures regarding BSE are laid down in Regulation (EC) No 999/2001. A summary of the TSE-Regulation is available on the website of DG SANTE.
BSE must also be notified to the OIE by all OIE Member Countries.
Belgian legislation
In Belgium, the cascade of notification is the following: farmer -> veterinarian -> local control unit of the FASFC -> central administration of the FASFC -> implementation of the national contingency plan for the control of BSE.
All legal requirements regarding epidemiological surveillance and the eradication measures are laid down in the Royal Decree of 17 March 1997 and the Ministerial Decree of 13 March 2009.
You can find more information on BSE on the website of the OIE and of DG SANTE of the European Commission.
Lumpy skin disease
Lumpy Skin Disease is an official notifiable disease not ever notified on the Belgian territory. Belgium is officially free of Lumpy skin disease.
Control measures in Belgium
Vaccination
Vaccination is prohibited in Belgium, as the disease has never been notified in the country.
Biosecurity
Basic principles of biosecurity are applied in every holding of susceptible animals.
Animal movements
Every truck/means of transport should be cleaned and disinfected after every transport of bovine animals. If the animals come from a restricted zone/country, the vehicle should be cleaned and disinfected before leaving the high-risk zone. In the event of international transport from an at-risk country, the vehicle should also be cleaned and disinfected before entry into Belgium
Measures to be taken in case of a Lumpy skin disease-outbreak in Belgium
In the event of suspicion
- Official notification;
- Official veterinary inspection;
- Placing under official surveillance of the holding.
In the event of confirmation of an outbreak
- Culling and destruction of infected and susceptible animals to prevent the further spread of the disease;
- Emergency vaccination;
- Destruction/treatment of contaminated waste and substances;
- Cleaning and disinfection;
- Epidemiological investigation;
- Creation of National and Local crisis units (NDCC – LDCC);
- Placing under official surveillance of other holdings;
- Establishment of a protection zone (3km) and of a surveillance zone (10 km).
Legislation
European legislation
Lumpy skin disease is a notifiable disease, according to Council Directive 82/894/EEC. Furthermore, the measures provided for in Council Directive 92/119/EEC also apply.
Lumpy skin disease must also be notified to the OIE by all OIE Member Countries.
Belgian legislation
In Belgium, the cascade of notification is the following: farmer -> veterinarian -> control unit of the FASFC -> central administration of the FASFC -> implementation of the national contingency plan for the control of Lumpy skin disease.
All legal requirements are laid down in the Royal Decree of 30 August 2016 on the control of certain exotic animal diseases and in the Royal Decree of 3 February 2014 relative to mandatory notification of animal infectious diseases.
More information on Lumpy skin disease can be found in the technical disease card on the OIE-website.
Bovine tuberculosis
Belgium is officially free from bovine tuberculosis (Mycobacterium bovis) since 25 June 2003 (Commission Decision 2003/467/EC establishing the official tuberculosis, brucellosis and enzootic bovine leucosis free status of certain Member States and regions of Member States as regards bovine herds).
The evolution of tuberculosis outbreaks in Belgian cattle herds over the last years is indicated in the following chart:
Official national tuberculosis surveillance programme
The official surveillance programme consists of:
- Skin testing of animals at purchase (mandatory – see also ‘purchase protocol’);
- Repeated skin testing of animals born or originating from a non-official tuberculosis free Member State or region or from a third country for 3 consecutive years during winter (see also ‘winter campaign’);
- Annual skin testing of all female animals on dairy herds with a direct sale to the consumer of raw milk or raw milk products;
- In case of a positive reactor, skin testing of all the animals of the holding and skin testing of all contact animals (tracing on and tracing back) or animals of contact herds;
- Follow-up tuberculin testing of breakdown and in-contact herds during winter after detection of an outbreak (during the ‘winter campaign’);
- Systematic post mortem examinations at the slaughterhouse. In case a suspicious lesion is identified, a sample is sent to the National Reference Laboratory for analysis.
The FASFC is informed about any dubious or positive result of the intradermal tuberculin skin testing and may decide to re-examine (additional tests e.g. comparative intradermal tuberculin test, interferon-gamma test) the animals or to slaughter them for additional confirmatory tests e.g. culture and PCR. If M. bovis is isolated, all animals in the herd of origin are skin tested and a complete epidemiological investigation is carried out.
An animal is defined as infected with bovine tuberculosis if the skin testing is positive or if M. bovis is isolated by culture or confirmed by laboratory testing (PCR). A holding is defined as infected if M. bovis was isolated or detected by PCR from an animal of the holding.
Isolation of M. bovis and biochemical testing is exclusively performed in the NRL where IFN-gamma, PCR and molecular typing by means of IS6110 RFLP, spoligotyping or MIRU-VNTR are also carried out to support the epidemiological investigations and to potentially prove the link between different cases.
Control measures
Measures in the event of suspicion
All precautionary measures shall be taken to prevent the spread of any possible contamination.
The herd is blocked and the status for bovine tuberculosis is "suspended". The transport of bovine animals is prohibited. Nonetheless, it is permitted, with the authorisation of the FASFC, to transfer a bovine animal directly to a designated slaughterhouse.
It is prohibited to use, for human consumption, raw milk or milk from animals suspected of being infected, which has not undergone an appropriate thermal treatment that will kill M. bovis with certainty.
Measures in the outbreak site
All precautionary measures are taken to prevent the spread of the infection.
If bovine tuberculosis is confirmed by isolating M. bovis or PCR in one or more bovine animals from a herd, the herd is declared to be an outbreak.
The herd remains blocked. The transport of bovine animals is prohibited. Nonetheless, it is permitted, on condition of authorisation by the FASFC, to transfer a bovine animal directly to a designated slaughterhouse. Infected animals, or animals suspected of being infected, should be kept in sheds and isolated from other animals in the herd. The bovine animals in the herd must not have direct or indirect contact with bovine animals from another herd.
The sheds, infrastructure, rooms, equipment, etc. and all tools used for cattle must be regularly cleaned and disinfected.
It is prohibited to use, for human consumption, raw milk, heat-treated milk and milk-based products produced from bovine animals contaminated with bovine tuberculosis. Milk and milk-based products produced by animals not affected by bovine tuberculosis may only be delivered to a dairy plant in order to undergo thermal treatment, which kills M. bovis with certainty.
The FASFC shall draw up a health plan for the outbreak site, which will indicate the affected, or suspected of being affected, cattle of the herd, which need to be slaughtered. Where appropriate, the slaughter of all animals may be ordered as part of a total eradication.
The measures for an outbreak site are lifted if:
- either all the tuberculin-injected bovine animals have reacted negatively in each case in at least two consecutive herd tuberculin tests, for which the first tuberculin test is carried out at the earliest six months after the slaughter of the last bovine animal included in the health plan and the second tuberculin test no earlier than six months after the first test;
- or all bovine animals from the herd have been slaughtered and the sheds, rooms, installations, containers and all tools which have been in contact with bovine animals were cleaned and disinfected in accordance with the FASFC's instructions.
The person responsible is obliged to have his or her herd tuberculin tested three times by his or her veterinarian for 5 years after the lifting of the measures.
Measures for in-contact herds in the outbreak site
In-contact herds are blocked and the status for bovine tuberculosis is "suspended". All cattle must be skin tested within 15 days. The block is lifted after obtaining a negative result for all tuberculin-injected animals. As soon as a tuberculin test is not negative, the status of the herd shall be indicated as 'suspect'.
The departure of bovine animals from an in-contact herd directly to a slaughterhouse may be authorised exceptionally, on condition of authorisation by the FASFC.
Legislation
European legislation
The European rules regarding the surveillance of tuberculosis are laid down in Council Directive 64/432/EEC of 26 June 1964 on animal health problems affecting intra-Community trade in bovine animals and swine.
Belgian legislation
The Belgian legislation regarding tuberculosis is laid down in the Royal Decree of the 17 of October 2002.