This book has been published by Compañía Española de Reprografía y Servicios S.A. (CERSA)

January 1^st, 2005

de Juan L., Aranaz A. and Dominguez L..

Tuberculosis and paratuberculosis are infectious diseases that affect livestock of EU countries. These diseases represent a serious economic impact in the farms and may represent a risk for human health. The more relevant problems that have a negative effect on the control and eradication of the diseases at the current epidemiological situation are (1) the lack of appropriate methods of diagnosis, (2) the difficulties in the laboratory work with these pathogens, (3) the role played in the epidemiology of the diseases by other domestic and wild animals, and (4) lack of adequate vaccines that do not interfere with diagnosis. VENoMYC (Veterinary Network of Laboratories Researching into Improved Diagnosis and Epidemiology of Mycobacterial Diseases), is a Co-ordination Action funded by the European Union, that has been created to address these problems and to concentrate technical and scientific efforts to the implementation of effective control measures. VENoMYC is multidisciplinary network made up with 37 partners from 17 countries. The partners have been selected on basis of experience on diagnosis, epidemiology and active researching on mycobacterial infections.
The First General Meeting was held in Segovia (Spain), the 15 and 16 October, 2004, with 105 participants. The meeting was opened by Mr. Arnaldo Cabello (Subdirector of Animal Health, Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food), Mr. José Martín (Regional Responsible of Agriculture and Livestock, Segovia, Junta de Castilla y León) and Professor Dr. Lucas Domínguez, (Dept. Animal Health, U.C.M.).
The meeting was organised in three sessions. The first session was devoted to Mycobacterial infections in EU. Present and Future, with the participation of Dr. Francisco Reviriego (Directorate-General Health and Consumer Protection, European Commission), Dr. Jordi Serratosa (European Food Safety Authority), Dr. John Ferris (Chairman of the Task Force, Subgroup Tuberculosis), Mr. Ludovic Plée (European Federation for Animal Health and Sanitary Security), and Dr. Diane Newell (Co-ordinator of the EU network of excellence MED-VET-NET).
The second session was dedicated to the situation of mycobacterial infections in EU countries, and representatives of the Institutions responsible for eradication campaigns and Animal Health of Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Slovenia, Spain and Northern Ireland (UK) offered an overview of the situation of the mycobacterial infections in the different countries.
During the afternoon, all partners gave a Brief presentation of partner Institutions, and their experience on diagnosis and research.

	Departamento de Sanidad Animal. Facultad de Veterinaria. Universidad Complutense (UCM). 111
	Servicio de Micobacterias (MYC). Centro de Vigilancia Sanitaria Veterinaria (VISAVET). Universidad Complutense (UCM). 111