Dermatitis: A trio of Regional Administrative Court rulings: "Culling cattle is the only effective solution against the infection."

Two ordinances and a decree in just a few hours. The Sardinian Regional Administrative Court, aligning itself with a recent decision by the Council of State, has ruled that cattle belonging to herds considered a hotbed of lumpy skin disease must be culled. Even if they appear healthy or are vaccinated, they must be killed.

The cull is scheduled for tomorrow, September 4th, at Luigi Manca's farm, which had attempted to appeal the Nuoro Local Health Authority's decision issued on August 2nd. According to the president of the first section of the Regional Administrative Court (TAR ), "the fundamental, constitutional and European interest underlying the competent health authority's initiatives to ensure the immediate eradication of lumpy skin disease in cattle and to protect animal health as a whole must be considered paramount, in order to prevent the risk of further spread of the viral outbreaks to other areas and to ensure the extinction of active outbreaks." Culling to further limit the spread of the disease: this is the argument supported by the administrative court. According to the decree, " exclusively public health concerns must be taken into account—including animal health and from a prophylactic perspective with regard to farms not yet affected by the disease—as opposed to the economic and productive interests of the appellant agricultural company." Which, it is emphasized, will in any case be the recipient of compensation.

Antonio Manca's refrain is the same: "The particular patterns of contracting and contagion, combined with the disease's incubation period, mean that the risk of further spread of the viral outbreaks cannot be ruled out without the immediate implementation of the measures ordered by the administrative authorities," the order states. It doesn't matter whether the animals to be culled belong to the Sardinian Brown or Limousine breed, which lawyers have declared "at risk of extinction." And, as the Council of State emphasized, "culling appears to be the only effective action to prevent the spread of the disease, given that its spread would have serious repercussions on the regional and national economy and that, therefore, 'rigorous application of the control measures provided for by the EU Regulation, including with regard to timing,' is essential."

The request from the Società Agricola Su Turciu and Boloriga di Orune companies was also rejected for the same reasons: no exemption is granted, the culling must proceed.