Editorial
parliamentary reporter
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There may be a lab trial of the use of potentially successful bird flu vaccines. This is what outgoing agriculture minister Carola Schouten reports in a letter to the House of Representatives.
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The minister says that the ministry is knocking on the door of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Utrecht University and of Wageningen Bioveterinary Research. Researchers are setting up a trial to test a vaccine against the H5N1 virus. This test is carried out under controlled conditions and must be approved by the Central Animal Experiments Committee.
In addition, the minister is in talks with the French authorities to jointly look at other options for a trial with a vaccine against highly pathogenic avian influenza (bird flu).
EU bets on vaccine
The European Union is also committed to a vaccine against bird flu. The European food safety authority Efsa is investigating which vaccines are available. The minister expects the Efsa report in the course of next year.
No preventive vaccination for foot and mouth disease
Schouten is currently not thinking about preventive vaccination against foot-and-mouth disease and swine fever. Both animal diseases do not occur in the European Union. If there is a threat of infection and a well-functioning vaccine is available, she will consider whether vaccination is necessary. It weighs heavily in this regard as to whether a disease can also be transmitted to humans. The latter applies, for example, to vaccination against Q fever, which has been made mandatory.
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