Animal disease proposal brings mixed response

The Minister for Agriculture, Mr Walsh, has welcomed publication of a report which calls for relaxation of quarantine measures within the EU and new arrangements for monitoring diseases which may be transmitted by cats and dogs.

The report, published yesterday, was issued by an advisory group to the UK Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. It recommends that for companion animals travelling between Britain and EU member-states or rabies-free islands, of which Ireland is one, the quarantine system be replaced.

However, given the success of quarantine in relation to Ireland, it is likely that radical change may be opposed, particularly by veterinary interests. The Irish Veterinary Association warned recently that quarantine "has undoubtedly served to maintain the national canine and feline population free from a number of important diseases prevalent in other European countries".

The UK group has advised that the system be replaced with a system involving vaccination, blood-testing and microchip identification requirements. It suggests that it may take up to three years to put in place its recommendations.

In recent years the incidence of rabies in the wildlife population of the EU has been significantly reduced due to a campaign of vaccinating foxes. Cases fell from 10,402 in 1989 to 133 in 1997.

Against this background, Mr Walsh welcomed the report as timely and indicated that it would receive careful study by his Department. Ireland and Britain have adopted a common approach to rabies control over many years.

The IVA warned, however, that while it accepted the need for change in the quarantine system, the degree and nature of such change as planned at EU level gave rise to concern, particularly as the system had been effective in precluding the entry of important non-rabies diseases. These affected not only animals, but in some cases humans, it said.