Animal and plant diseases
Animals and plants can expose humans to a variety of serious infectious diseases and cause significant financial burden to public health.
Key information
Highly transmissible diseases can easily spread across borders and can lead to international emergencies. Many diseases affect wildlife and may have a negative impact on natural habitats. Infected wildlife, in turn, can play a role in the reoccurrence of outbreaks and in transmitting pathogens to both domestic animals and human.
Pests and diseases that attack agriculture could damage crops, resulting in food security risks and nutrition crises.
- The likelihood of future outbreaks is seen to be increasing due to climate change and international trade.
The movement of blood-feeding flies, mosquitoes and ticks is responsible for the spread of lumpy skin disease from the Middle East to southeast Europe.
Changes in climate are altering geographical and temporal distribution of pests, weeds, parasites and diseases.
There is evidence that midges – vectors of bluetongue disease – advanced from Africa into southern Europe because of increased humidity and temperature.
Human activity is also a driver of emerging animal and plant diseases. The more that humans move animals, people and commodities, along with the pathogens they carry, the greater the potential for pathogens and pests to spread and for infection to emerge and re-emerge.
Key risk drivers
The animal and plant diseases can be hazardous and extremely serious; therefore, it is paramount to ensure better prevention and control of transmissible animal and plant diseases. Since some animal-borne diseases can be transmitted to humans, animal diseases are a major threat to public health. Bacterium affecting plants and trees also pose significant economic, environmental and health risks.
There are many factors behind the entry, establishment and spread of animal and plant diseases in a region. The drivers include globalisation, climate change, and changes in land management and agricultural practices. The increase in movement of people, animals, plants and products has accelerated the redistribution of pathogens and diseases.
Food production is a human activity, where the risk of new pathogens emerging, and the spread of existing ones has increased as a result of global changes in the way food is produced and consumed.
Impacts and vulnerabilities in Europe
Largely based on national disaster risk assessments for EU Member and Civil Protection Mechanism Participating States, the ‘Overview of natural and man-made disaster risks the European Union may face’ aims to foster better understanding of disaster risks facing Europe.
In 2016-2017, European poultry farms were hit by an epidemic of a highly pathogenic avian influenza (bird flu). The epidemic was the largest ever recorded in the EU in terms of the number of poultry outbreaks, geographical extent and number of dead wild birds. Between October 2016 and November 2017, there were several thousand outbreaks in 25 EU Member States, affecting millions of birds.
Besides animal diseases, Europe's agricultural, forest and food production sectors are also under threat from pests and diseases that attack agricultural crops, trees and other plant species including forest tree species. They could potentially damage crops and could result in food security risks and nutrition crises. Regulation (EU) 2019/1702 identified 20 quarantine pests (see Annex) were as priority pests requiring increased action from public authorities due to the severity of economic, social and environmental impacts they can cause.
The Xylella fastidiosa bacterium affects olive trees, almond trees and grapevines among other agricultural crops. It is one of the most harmful plant bacteria in terms of economic, social and environmental impacts.
In Europe it was first detected in Italy in 2013, and by 2017 severely damaged around 6.5 million olive trees. The disease has spread to France, Spain and Germany. Though southern Europe is the most exposed to Xylella, research suggests that it has the potential to spread across the entire EU.
The JRC has estimated that in this worst-case scenario, Xylella fastidiosa could cost the EU over EUR 5.5 billion per year due to loss of production, with potential export losses of EUR 0.7 billion per year. This could also put at risk nearly 300 000 jobs in the production of olives, citrus fruits, almonds and grapes.
Besides the Xylella fastidiosa bacterium, Europe has been grappling with a host of pests and diseases, such as the Moroccan and Italian locusts, the Grapevine Flavescence Dorée (affecting vine plants), the pinewood nemathode in Portugal and the bark beetle affecting Germany, Czechia and Slovakia. All these are capable of extreme levels of breeding on a regional scale.
Addressing the risk: Policy framework
EU legislation sets out a range of measures aimed at preventing and controlling the spread of major diseases. Specific animal diseases legislation has been adopted, such as:
- Avian influenza (bird flu) is covered by Directive 2005/94/EC. To limit the spread of the disease, the Directive requires suspected cases of avian flu to be investigated, infected poultry to be humanely killed and feeding stuffs/equipment/manure to be disposed of.
- Classical swine fever is covered under Directive 2001/89/EC and African swine fever under Directive 2002/60/EC.
- African Horse Sickness Measures are laid out in Directive 92/35/EEC.
- Foot-and-mouth disease are covered by Directive 2003/85/EC. Provisions are made for the use of emergency vaccinations and as a result, the EU has stocks of antigens for express vaccine formulations.
- Monitoring and control of foodborne diseases is covered by Directive 2003/99/EC.
The EU Animal Health Law aims to prevent and control animal diseases that can be transmitted to other animals and humans. The law also calls for strengthening the enforcement of health and safety standards for the entire agri-food chain.
The EU Plant Health Law aims to provide better protection against plant pests, as well as to ensure safe trade and mitigate the impacts of climate change on plant health.
The Farm to Fork Strategy aims to make food systems fair, healthy and environmentally-friendly. EU food hygiene legislation sets out requirements for food producers and operators and provides rules for checks.
Addressing the risk: Supportive measures
Plants are traded internationally, and pests and diseases know no borders. The EU is a member of the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) where it actively takes part in the setting of international quality standards for plants and plant products.
The European Union Notification System for Plant Health Interceptions (EUROPHYT) provides essential support for the implementation of preventative measures, by ensuring that the data on risks to plant health from trade in plants and plant products is up-to-date and accurate.
The Horizon Europe programme aims to ensure food and nutrition security for all and reducing environmental degradation to help halt the migration of animal and plant diseases.
The Animal Disease Information System (ADIS) is designed to register and document the evolution of the situation of important infectious animal diseases. While ADIS is a system not directly related with food safety, it has an impact on public health in relation to all zoonotic diseases within its
The European Food Safety Authority provides scientific advice on existing and emerging risks associated with the food chain.
Last updated: 23 August 2023