Stakeholders and crisis management

Any suspicion or confirmation of a case of bird flu in an animal in Luxembourg can only be officially announced by the Director of the Administration of Veterinary Services (Administration des services vétérinaures, ASV) or his/her representative. The Director of the Administration of Veterinary Services immediately informs the High Commissioner for National Protection of any suspicion or confirmation, whether it is actual or potential. Depending on the situation, the High Commissioner for National Protection launches a consultation process to determine the suitability of using the structure for national protection.

Implementing the intervention plan

The intervention plan is implemented on the basis of:

• a notification by a laboratory of a positive result suggesting a suspicion or confirming the presence of the bird flu virus following an analysis carried out in the framework of surveillance operations of bird flu;
• a suspicion raised by a veterinarian inspector (or treating veterinarian) from the Administration of Veterinary Services in the event that there are significant indicators of a suspicion and the possibility of the disease spreading.

Crisis Cell

The Crisis Cell is responsible for organising and coordinating all applicable measures within the framework of implementing the plan. Its principle mission is to set the protection and surveillance zones and ensure that the evolution of the epizootic disease is monitored. It informs the media and the population of the situation and measures in place via the intermediary of the Communication/Information Cell (CCI).

Dependent on the Crisis Cell, the Operational Cell is in charge of coordinating the execution of the measures and actions approved and implemented on the ground.

Operational Cell

The Operational Cell functions 24 hours a day for at least the first three days following the detection of a case and remains active for the duration of the measures applied (at least 30 days). In the event that other outbreaks are detected in the meantime, the activation period is extended by 30 days dating from the last case detected.