EASVO held its General Assembly on 26 June in Leuven, Belgium, in a hybrid format, welcoming members, guests, and observers to discuss shared challenges, national updates, and European-level priorities for the veterinary profession.
Key contributions included a presentation from the Young Official Veterinarians Network, highlighting the need for greater interagency collaboration and support around digital certification (TRACES), and a thesis presentation on veterinary workforce shortages in France. The Members’ Round Table featured updates on animal health situations across Europe, including the UK’s new negligible BSE risk status and discussions around the upcoming EU-UK veterinary agreement.
The joint session of UEVP and EASVO addressed the FMD outbreaks in Hungary, Slovakia, and Germany. A comprehensive overview of the outbreaks, the measures taken, and the challenges encountered was provided. The measures implemented by the Czech Republic and Austria to prevent the spread were also presented. The importance of early detection, disease-proof measures on farms, traceability, and biosecurity were particularly emphasised. Rapid communication to inform affected individuals and the public is essential, as is psychological support for affected farms. The high demand for human resources was identified as a major challenge, which in the veterinary sector could only be met by the deployment of practicing veterinarians. Thanks to the close cooperation between authorities, testing centers, practicing veterinarians, and emergency services, FMD was successfully controlled in the affected countries and its spread to other countries was prevented.
Nancy de Briyne (FVE Executive Director on the animal health visits), Borbála Bende from Hungary, Zoran Nikolic and Iris Fuchs from Germany, Jan Bernardy from the Czech Republic, Andrea Leutgöb-Ozlberger and Dietmar Gerstner (not pictured) from Austria and Roman Matejčik from Slovakia
EASVO Board Mikko Turku, Andrea Leutgöb-Ozlberger, Mark McCarthy, Conny Rossi-Broy, Ole-Herman Tronerud
