Veterinary Public Health

The Provincial Veterinary Service is the technical inspection, verification, coordination and planning body for the activities of the veterinary services operating in the Province of Bolzano. It is responsible for drawing up provincial legal rules and verifying the correct application of Community, national and provincial rules concerning the veterinary sector by official veterinarians, hygiene inspectors and other control bodies operating in the Province of Bolzano. The company Veterinary Service, on the other hand, has the task of correctly applying the rules at the provincial level and is divided into two sectors: animal health and hygiene of production, conservation and marketing of food of animal origin. In accordance with the provisions of Law No 3 of 12.01.83 and subsequent amendments, the first sector ensures the supervision and control of animals, health authorisations, places and buildings for the shelter and concentration of animals, the methods and means of transport and transit of animals, their movement within and outside the Community and the production, processing and distribution of products intended for animals (feed); it also monitors the hygiene of animal reproduction, the use of veterinary medicines and the protection of animals. The second sector, on the other hand, ensures the hygienic and health protection of food of animal origin; it is also responsible for monitoring the activities and slaughter facilities, the collection and disposal of scrap and animal waste and Sardinians. To ensure veterinary activity throughout the province, the company Veterinary Service, which is headquartered in Bolzano, uses reference operational units in the health areas of Merano, Bressanone and Brunico. Animal disease prophylaxis and recovery plans were carried out in 2015 involving bovine tuberculosis (BBC), bovine and ovine-caprine brucellosis, brucella ovis, infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR), swine vesicular disease, swine fever, Aujeszky’s disease, enzootic bovine leukosis, bovine viral diarrhoea BVD/MD (antibodies and viruses). blue Tongue, caprine arthritis-encephalitis virus disease (CAEV), Maedi Visna virus disease, paratuberculosis, viral haemorrhagic septicaemia (VHS) and infectious haematopoietic necrosis (IHN) of fish. In addition to serological tests on animals, individual holdings were also checked, conducting specific tests on tank milk. In 2015, about 76,000 analyses were carried out on bovine animals, 22,000 on sheep and 3,000 on pigs for the prevention of infectious diseases. The Province of Bolzano also participates in a national Blue Tongue surveillance programme, in which 1,023 bovine blood samples were taken. Under the provincial feed plan, 216 controls were carried out on feed holdings, 32 samples on genetically unmodified products and 323 inspections for the control of feed administration.