Prevention and control of Foot-and-Mouth disease, classical swine fever and Avian influenza in the European Union: An integrated analysis of epidemiological, economic and social-ethical aspects

The recent outbreaks of Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD), Classical Swine Fever (CSF), and highly pathogenetic Avian Influenza (AI) in the European Union (EU) have shown that such contagious animal diseases can have a devastating impact in terms of animal welfare, economics and societal outcry and disturbance. Insights into the three interrelated, aspects of epidemiology, economics, and social-ethics are crucial in order to better prevent and control contagious diseases in the future. Because of the sometimes conflicting aspects a broad spectrum of stakeholders received a prominent position in the national public debate during and after the recent outbreaks. In order to quantify the impact of alternative views by alternative stakeholders science-based models are a prerequisite. The main goal of the project is therefore to conduct an integrated analysis of epidemiological, economic and social-ethical aspects of (potential) control strategies. First the results of a survey are presented which focused on prioritising epidemiological, economic and social-ethical aspects. Subsequently, an integrated analysis is described in order to obtain insight into the impact of the above mentioned differences between stakeholders. A detailed analysis is presented for six EU member states and three contagious diseases (FMD, CSFand AI)