BVA welcomes new ruling on tapeworm control

The British Veterinary Association (BVA) has welcomed a new EU ruling that will put in place additional controls to prevent tapeworm from entering the UK.

Following months of lobbying from the animal health sector, the European Council and European Parliament have agreed to implement a regulation to ensure that any dogs travelling to listed states, including the UK and Ireland, are free from Echinococcus multilocularis.

The UK's current derogation from European pet travel rules – which allows additional protection against rabies, ticks and tapeworms – ends on December 31st 2011, but it has been decided that controls need to be maintained over tapeworm due to the public health risk.

Carl Padgett, president of the BVA, noted that tapeworm infection is relatively benign for dogs, but can cause serious health repercussions for humans.

"It is therefore vital to maintain tapeworm controls to keep this serious zoonotic disease out of the country," he added.

Last month, the organisation called for the European Commission to increase its support for the development of antimicrobials in the animal health field.