6.1.2009 Official Journal of the European Union L 2/9 COMMISSION DECISION of 18 December 2008 establishing Community reserves of vaccines against African horse sickness (2009/3[EQ) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to Council Decision 90/424/EEC of 26 June 1990 on expenditure in the veterinary field (*), and in particular Articles 6(2) and 8 thereof, Having regard to Council Directive 92/35/EEC of 29 April 1992 laying down control rules and measures to combat African horse sickness (?), and in particular Article 12 thereof, Whereas: (1) African horse sickness (AHS) is an arthropod-borne disease of equidae primarily of sub-Saharan Africa. Occa- sionally the disease has spread outside Africa as far as India but also into northern Africa and onto the Iberian Peninsula, and between the latter. The disease is caused by an Orbivirus similar to the causative virus of blue- tongue. However, unlike bluetongue in sheep and cattle, AHS is almost always fatal for horses. Nine antigenically distinct serotypes of the AHS-virus have been identified by virus neutralisation but some cross-reaction has been observed between serotypes 1 and 2, 3 and 7, 5 and 8, and 6 and 9, which is used in vaccine manufacturing. The persistent circulation of bluetongue virus in certain Member States is sufficient proof for the almost uninter- rupted presence of competent vectors in the affected areas. The AHS-virus and bluetongue virus are trans- mitted by the same vector Culicoides and therefore the risk of virus introduction into Member States is higher than negligible. The bluetongue affected parts of the Community are also core breeding grounds for valuable horse populations that are thus particularly threatened by AHS. The early use of vaccines in case of an outbreak of AHS is provided for in Article 6(1)(d) of Directive 92/35/EEC. In accordance with Article 9(2) of that Directive, the Commission may take a decision to carry out systematic vaccination of equidae against AHS, however, no vaccine against AHS is currently produced by the pharmaceutical industry based in the Member States or registered in Europe by an international manufacturer. () O] L 224, 18.8.1990, p. 19. ) OJ L 157, 10.6.1992, p. 19. ©) With substantial Community support to Spain, Portugal and later also Morocco, the 1987-91 outbreak in that ecosystem was extinct, and since 1993 all Member States of the European Union comply with the conditions for an AHS free country according to the criteria set up by Community legislation. Chapter 12.1 of the Terrestrial Animal Health Code (the Code) of the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) (%) sets, inter alia, the standards for movements of vaccinated or seropositive equidae and provides for the guidelines to be followed in order to maintain or recover the free status following an outbreak. In the absence of a specific monograph for vaccines against AHS in the European Pharmacopoeia, the description in Chapter 2.5.1 of the Manual of Diagnostic Tests and Vaccines for Terrestrial Animals (*) of the vaccine produced by Onderstepoort Biological Products Ltd (OBP) in South Africa is the only available and authentic standard for live attenuated vaccines against AHS. In the light of the experience with vaccination against bluetongue in Member States, in order to prevent the introduction of previously undetected serotypes in an ecosystem, it is necessary to establish the capacity for resorting in case of emergency to monovalent vaccines containing only the serotype already prevalent or directly threatening the region. The OBP has the technology to produce suitable monovalent attenuated vaccines from the seven serotypes included in the routinely produced tri- and tetravalent attenuated live vaccines for combined subsequent use in endemic settings that is effective against all nine AHS-virus serotypes. OBP is thus the only potential contractor with the required capacities to provide effective vaccines for AHS that meet internationally accepted standards, within the meaning of Article 123(3) of Commission Regulation  (EC, Euratom) No 23422002 of 23 December 2002, laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities (%). () http:/|www.oie.int/eng/normes/mcode/en_chapitre_1.12.1.htm (%) http:/jwww.oie.int/eng/normes/mmanual[2008/pdf/2.05.01_AHS.pdf () OJ L 357, 31.12.2002, p. 1.