Council Directive of 13 December 1977 establishing the Community criteria for national plans for the accelerated eradication of brucellosis, tuberculosis and enzootic leukosis in cattle (78/52/EEC)

Article 14

1. Where a herd contains an animal suspected of having tuberculosis, the competent authorities shall ensure that official investigations are carried out as soon as possible to confirm or rule out the presence of that disease.

Pending the outcome of these investigations, the competent authorities shall order:

• the herd to be placed under official surveillance,

• the prohibition of any movement into or out of the herd unless authorized by the competent authorities for the purpose of slaughter without delay,

• isolation within the herd of the suspect animals.

2. The orders referred to in paragraph 1 shall not be lifted until the presence or suspected presence of tuberculosis in the herd concerned has been officially ruled out.

3. Where the presence of tuberculosis is officially confirmed, the Member States shall take appropriate measures to prevent any spread of the disease and shall ensure in particular that:

• all movement into or out of the herd in question is prohibited unless authorized by the competent authorities for the purpose of slaughter without delay,

• cattle in which the presence of tuberculosis has been officially confirmed, and cattle which may have been infected by them, are isolated within the herd,

• the cattle undergo an examination for tuberculosis without delay,

• cattle in which the presence of tuberculosis has been officially confirmed, cattle which have been examined as stipulated in the third indent with unfavourable results, and cattle considered by the competent authorities as infected are isolated and marked until their slaughter pursuant to Article 15,

• milk from infected cows may only be fed to animals on the same farm after suitable heat treatment,

• without prejudice to national provisions concerning foodstuffs, milk from cows from an infected herd, cannot be delivered to a dairy, except to undergo suitable heat treatment,

• carcases, half-carcases, quarters, pieces and offal from infected cattle intended for use as feed for animals are treated in such a way as to avoid contamination,

• official regulations for the control of establishments such as carcase disposal plants ensure that there is no danger of the material produced spreading tuberculosis,

• manure from sheds or other quarters used by the animals is stored in a place inaccessible to farm animals, treated with a suitable disinfectant and stored for at least three weeks. Use of disinfectant is not required if the manure is covered with a layer of uninfected manure or earth. Liquid waste from sheds or other quarters used by the animals must be disinfected if it is not collected at the same time as the manure.