Division 4 Bluetongue monitoring and surveillance programmes aimed at determining the seasonally vector free period (entomological surveillance)F1

Entomological surveillance to determine the seasonally vector-free period as referred to in Annex V, shall meet the following requirements:

1. (a)

   it must consist of at least an active annual programme of vector catching by means of permanently sited aspiration traps intended to determine the population dynamics of the vector;

2. (b)

   aspiration traps equipped with ultraviolet light must be used in accordance with pre-established protocols; the traps must be operated throughout the night and operate at a rate of at least:

   • one night per week during the month before the expected beginning and during the month before the expected end of the seasonally vector-free period,

   • one night per month during the seasonally vector-free period.

   On the basis of the evidence obtained in the three first years of the operation of the aspiration traps, the frequency of operation of those traps may be adjusted;

3. (c)

   at least one aspiration trap must be placed in each epidemiologically relevant area all over the bluetongue seasonally free zone. A proportion of the midges collected in the aspiration traps must be sent to a specialised laboratory capable of counting and identifying the suspected vector species.