Brussels, 14 September 2005

National surveillance programmes for avian influenza July 2005 - January 2006

The Commission, backed by the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health, has agreed to provide an initial €883.700 in co-funding for the avian influenza surveillance plans of the 25 Member States for the period July 2005 to January 2006. Additional funds will be made available as necessary. The breakdown by Member State is as follows:

Please note:

• Domestic birds means birds kept or reared in captivity for breeding, production of meat or eggs (poultry). Not pet birds.
• Wild birds’ means birds not kept in captivity as domestic or pet birds.
• The number of tests performed and the number of birds sampled for investigation can differ due to the “pooling” of samples. This means that up to five samples can be tested as one “pooled” sample, where differentiation can be made in case of a positive