It’s already been four years since the implementation of Article 25, describing the animal health visits in the EU Animal health law, recalled Nancy De Briyne (FVE) during the 7 November webinar on the topic. ‘For the veterinary profession, it’s been an important topic for many years,’ she said, referring to the FVE position paper regarding animal health visits. She went on to describe the outcome of the 2023 FVE survey on the situation in Europe.
Animal health visits: ‘win-win-win for farmers, society and regulators’
‘In none of the countries, it’s perfect, in some there are no visits at all. However, in most countries, the visits are combined with welfare or biosecurity visits, which makes a lot of sense.’ She stressed that these visits – ‘advisory visits, not official controls’ – were ‘win-win-win’ for farmers, society and the regulators. She urged policymakers to provide a consistent framework, more guidance and clarity regarding these visits.
Spain: an app to inform everyone of outbreaks
Miguel Ángel Higuera presented an example of how the GSP Lleida Grup de Sanejament Porci had implemented the animal health visits in the pig sector in Lleida, in north-eastern Spain. ‘We’re a non-profit organisation of all pig producers of the area. The GSP consists of a multidisciplinary team and has its own diagnostic lab.’ The group provides surveillance, biosecurity advice, analysis and training, he said, and even has its own app (GSP Lleida) which allows following any outbreaks in the area.
Austria: webinars for farmers and vets
Simone Steiner described how Animal Health Austria, founded in 2023, is responsible for coordinating the animal health visits. ‘It’s a voluntary programme, but participation is a prerequisite for many quality breeding programmes.’ The programme focuses on knowledge transfer, she explained, and Animal Health Austria has produced a range of webinars for farmers and vets on topics such as Bluetongue, Foot-and-mouth disease, Lumpy Skin Disease and biosecurity. ‘Biosecurity was not a popular topic at first, but this has changed a lot since the recent emerging disease outbreaks.’
Denmark: practical, actionable guidelines
Denmark has a long-standing tradition of co-creation or public-private partnerships, explained Louise Lemming of the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration. ‘We’ve had mandatory herd health advisory agreements in place since 2010 in the form of a formal contract between farmers – who have the overall responsibility – and their veterinary practitioners, for up to 26 annual visits, depending on the type of farm.’ Together, stakeholders have set up voluntary standards and legal requirements have been translated into practical, actionable guidelines for all actors in the food animal chain. Think guidelines for farmers in case of outbreaks, checklists for vets and biosecurity posters for farm visitors.
‘Share data on the link between disease prevention and productivity’
During the panel discussion, it became clear that animal health visits would also be a potential source of data collection and benchmarking, but that it was important that data were treated confidentially so as not harm the trust between the farmer and his vet. Suggestions of how to improve the uptake of AHV included partnering up with ‘champions’ who had already set it up and share data on the link between disease prevention, the animal health index and productivity. The 1.5-hour webinar can be reviewed here.
Need for a 'consistent framework, clarity and adequate support'
Commenting on the AHVs, UEVP President Volker said: 'practising veterinarians must receive the mandate, recognition and fair remuneration for their frontline role in biosecurity and One Health. Europe urgently needs a consistent framework, clarity and adequate support for animal health visits. To protect animals, people and our food systems, we must strengthen the role of the practising veterinarian — the cornerstone of prevention!' Biosecurity and AHV were also a prominent part of the discussions at the recent UEVP general assembly last week.
(photo ©Unsplash)