Economics of controlling avian influenza epidemics

Abstract

Livestock epidemics like avian influenza (AI) may inevitably affect many farms at the same time, causing severe economic losses for governments, farmers and all other participants of the poultry production chain. This paper gives an overview of the various economic consequences incurred by AI epidemics. The funding of these losses is discussed, making a distinction between the compensation currently regulated by the EU or national government and the additional financing possibilities by means of insurance or co-financing systems. A general economic analysis is performed to explore the required level of insurance or co-financing rates for the various EU member states to cover the expected AI losses. The level of rates turned out to vary widely among the individual EU countries.