S.L. 437.109 Art. 5Procedures.

(1) Once the presence of Newcastle disease in poultry has been officially confirmed on a holding, the competent authority shall have the power to order that the following measures be undertaken:

(a) all poultry on the holding shall without delay be killed on the spot and the poultry which have died or been killed and all eggs shall be destroyed. These operations shall be carried out in a way which minimises the risk of spreading disease; NEWCASTLE DISEASE

(b) any substance or waste, such as animal feed, litter or manures liable to be contaminated, shall be destroyed or treated appropriately in accordance with instructions given by the official veterinarian in order to ensure the destruction of any Newcastle disease virus present;

(c) where poultry from the holding have been slaughtered during the presumed incubation period of disease the meat from those poultry shall wherever possible be traced and destroyed;

(d) hatching eggs laid during the presumed incubation period which have been moved from the holding shall be traced and destroyed; but poultry which have already hatched from the eggs shall be placed under official surveillance; table eggs laid during the presumed incubation period which have been moved from the holding shall wherever possible be traced and destroyed, unless they have previously been properly disinfected;

(e) after carrying out operations listed under paragraphs (a) and (b), the buildings used for housing poultry, their surroundings, the vehicles used for transport and all equipment likely to be contaminated shall be cleaned and disinfected in accordance with the provisions of rule 11;

(f) no poultry shall be introduced to the holding until at least twenty-one (21) days after completion of operations provided for under paragraph (e);

(g) an epizootiological inquiry shall be carried out in accordance with rule 7.

(2) The competent authority may extend the measures provided for in sub-rule (1) to other neighbouring holdings should their location, their configuration, or contact with the holding where the disease has been confirmed give reason to suspect possible contamination.

(3) Where a strain of Newcastle disease virus with an ICPI (intracerebral pathogenicity index) greater than 0,7 and lower than 1,2 is isolated in a flock of poultry that presents no clinical signs of Newcastle disease and it has been demonstrated by the European Union reference laboratory referred to in rule 15 that the virus isolate in question derives from an attenuated live Newcastle disease vaccine, the competent authority may grant a derogation from the requirements under paragraphs (a) to (f) of sub-rule (1), provided that the holding concerned is placed under official surveillance for thirty (30) days and must require in particular that:

(a) the provisions of rule 4(2) (a), (b), (d), (e), and (f) are applied;

(b) no poultry may leave the holding except to be taken directly to a slaughterhouse designated by the competent authority.

(4) The competent authority responsible for this slaughterhouse must be informed of the intention to send poultry there for slaughter and as soon as the poultry arrive at the slaughterhouse they shall be kept and slaughtered separately from other poultry.

(5) Fresh meat from the poultry referred to in sub-rule (3) must carry the identification mark applied in accordance with Annex II, Section I of Regulation (EC) 853/2004.

(6) The provisions laid down in sub-rule (3) shall be subject to a review taking into account developments in scientific research with a view to adopting harmonised rules for the use of Newcastle disease vaccines in the Member States.