Abstract:

The outlines of those veterinary preventive measures which have to he practised in relation to modern industrialised animal production are given, with a special emphasis on the protection of domestic animals against specific pathogenic agents and the development of diseases caused by agents which are usually rather benign but which, under the artificial environmental conditions in industrialised holdings, are able to create disease problems. The introduction of EEC legislation to harmonise national veterinary legislation is a prerequisite to open up trade in the whole of the EEC. These regulations will gradually lead to the coordinated eradication of classical infectious diseases. Future EEC legislation will deal with the coordination of national regulations for the protection of animal and public health in relation to spread of infectious and toxic substances from animal holdings to the environment and even to animal products and to consumers. Only by coordinated international legislation will it be possible to allow large scale production and distribution of animal products but at the same time avoid the distribution of infections, maintaining a constant surveillance and control of noxious agents, thus establishing the necessary safety measures for animal and public health.