| Economic factors such as availability of feeding stuffs, reasonably priced land, and local consumer demand have led to a concentration of animal production, particulary the production of pigs, in certain areas of Europe. There are signs that this concentration of production is giving rise to an increased risk of animal disease epedemics. The cost of dealing with these problems is placing increasingly heavy financial burdens on the commercial and public sector. The underlying research proposal is aimed at developing and applying an integrated and internationally-oriented approach to quantify the riskiness of densely populated livestock areas with respect to disease introduction (and further spread) and to perform cost-benefit analysis with respect to alternative prevention strategies. The approach will be worked out as a tool for continuous risk assessment and economic analysis, applicable to any region of the Community. Thsi will help policy makers to make economically sound decisions on disease prevention and control to avoid/reduce the further pread of the infection to other regions and member states of the EU. Keyword(s): INSURANCE / RISK ASSESSMENT / RISK / MANAGEMENT / AGRICULTURAL INSURANCE / INCOME / FARMERS / EUROPE |
