Article 4Measures in case of suspicion of the presence of classical swine fever in pigs on a holding
1
Where a holding contains one or more pigs suspected of being infected with classical swine fever virus, Member States shall ensure that the competent authority immediately sets in motion official means of investigation to confirm or rule out the presence of the said disease in accordance with the procedures laid down in the diagnostic manual.
When the holding is visited by an official veterinarian, a check of the register and of the pig identification marks referred to in Articles 4 and 5 of Council Directive 92/102/EEC of 27 November 1992 on the identification and registration of animals13 shall also be carried out.
2
When the competent authority considers that the suspected presence of classical swine fever in a holding cannot be ruled out, it shall have the holding placed under official surveillance and shall in particular order that:
a
all the pigs in the various categories on the holding are to be counted and a list compiled of the number of pigs already sick, dead or likely to be infected in each category; the list shall be updated to take account of pig births and deaths during the period of suspicion; the information on the list shall be produced upon request and may be checked at each visit;
b
all the pigs on the holding shall be restricted to their living quarters or be confined in some other place where they can be isolated;
c
no pigs may enter or leave the holding. The competent authority may, if necessary, extend the ban on leaving the holding to cover other species of animals and require the application of appropriate measures to destroy rodents or insects;
d
no pig carcases may leave the holding without an authorisation issued by the competent authority;
e
no meat, pig products, semen, ova and embryos of pigs, animal feed, utensils, materials or waste likely to transmit classical swine fever may leave the holding without an authorisation issued by the competent authority; meat, pig products, semen, ova and embryos shall not be moved from the holding for intra-Community trade;
f
the movement of persons to or from the holding shall be subject to written authorisation by the competent authority;
g
the movement of vehicles to or from the holding shall be subject to written authorisation by the competent authority;
h
appropriate means of disinfection shall be used at the entrances and exits of buildings housing pigs and of the holding itself; any person entering or leaving pig holdings shall fulfil appropriate hygienic measures necessary to reduce the risk of spread of classical swine fever virus. Furthermore, all means of transport shall be carefully disinfected before leaving the holding;
i
an epidemiological enquiry shall be carried out in accordance with Article 8.
3
Where required by the epidemiological situation and in particular if the holding containing suspected pigs is located in an area with a high density of pigs, the competent authority:
a
may apply the measures of Article 5(1) in the holding referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article; however, the competent authority may, where it considers that conditions permit, limit the application of these measures only to the pigs suspected of being infected or contaminated with classical swine fever virus and the part of the holding where they were kept, provided that these pigs have been housed, kept and fed completely separately from the other pigs in the holding. In any case, a sufficient number of samples shall be taken from the pigs when they are killed in order that the presence of classical swine fever virus can be confirmed or ruled out, in accordance with the diagnostic manual;
b
may establish a temporary control zone around the holding referred to in paragraph 2; some or all the measures referred to in paragraph 1 or 2 shall be applied in the pig holdings within this zone.
4
The measures provided for in paragraph 2 shall not be lifted until the suspicion of classical swine fever has been officially ruled out.