2294 part 1 final report.pdf - Agra CEAS Consulting

Prevention and control of animal diseases worldwide
Part I: Economic analysis: prevention versus outbreak costs
with AI increased from two to forty five. The NRL has also established and reviewed the diagnostic
protocols for HPAI. (A275).
Local laboratories have in general good structures and are well equipped. Since the start of the epidemic,
six county laboratories have been provided with PCR facilities. A total of eight laboratories are now
equipped with the necessary equipment to carry out PCR or real time PCR testing but training still needed
for the staff to improve the use of these facilities. (A93a)
However, given the large number of laboratories spread throughout the country and the abundance of
equipment, Romania's veterinary system would benefit from laboratory consolidation and more strategic
location. (A93a)
Romania's surveillance system is primarily passive, reacting to reports of disease suspicions and testing
dead or sick birds. Active surveillance would be needed to ensure that the disease is detected early enough
which would substantially increase the number of samples tested for which the capacity not always exists,
especially with respect to consumables such as reagents. Within the GPAI/APL project, Euro 0.188
million has been established to that end.
In case of an AI outbreak, Romania pursues a policy of virus eradication through the immediate
destruction of poultry in the infected zone, the establishment of surveillance zones, epidemiological
surveys, the complete disinfection of affected areas and the use of sentinel birds before restocking. Culling
is performed with plastic garbage containers filled with carbon dioxide but more appropriate containers
for asphyxiation purposes in an animal welfare-acceptable manner would be needed for the culling
operations as well as mobile incineration units for safe disposal of carcasses (A93a).
Financial compensation for culling is paid within 60 days through the provisions of a national fund
"Compensation for Animal Diseases'' allocated in the Ministry of Agriculture (MAFRD) budget. The
amount of compensation payments are based on the replacement value equalling the market price of the
destroyed animals or by estimating the total losses incurred by the holder. Initial budgetary allocations for
payments compensating farmers for culling/slaughtering in order to prevent animal diseases (such as avian
influenza, swine fever, foot and mouth disease, etc.) amounted to about EUR 2.0 million in MAFRD's
2005 budget and EUR 5.5 million in the 2006 budget. Since the first outbreak of HPAI in Romania in
October 2005, total compensation payments for culled poultry have added up to EUR 3.9 million out of
which EUR 3.2 million were paid in 2006. Average compensation payments amounted to RON 20 (EUR
5.7) per each hen culled (hens representing 80% of the total poultry culled) to about RON 60 (EUR 17)
per each turkey culled. Speedy payment of compensation appears to have substantially contributed to the
acceptance of culling activities by the rural population. (A93a).
Despite the effectively control of HPAI outbreaks, weaknesses still remain. The WB assessment has
identified those to lie particularly in the areas of quarantining, culling of infected and at risk poultry and
the safe disposal of poultry carcasses. In order to support the disease control measures, the GPAI/APL
programme allocated EUR 1.475 million for targeting virus eradication at the source which includes the
above mentioned measures, EUR 0.103 million to implement poultry vaccination campaigns and EUR
0.29 million for improving bio-security especially in small holders farms. In the context of a shift from
passive to active surveillance, the project will also support with EUR 2.23 million the development of an
animal disease information system to collect the epidemiological information to set up a properly disease
control strategy and sharing the information with the international agencies.
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