26.3.2011 Official Journal of the European Union L 80/15 DECISIONS COMMISSION DECISION of 24 March 2011 amending Decision 2010/221/EU as regards the approval of national measures for preventing the introduction of ostreid herpesvirus 1 pvar (OsHV-1 pvar) into certain areas of Ireland and the United Kingdom (notified under document C(2011) 1825) (Text with EEA relevance) (2011/187/EU) THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION, Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, Having regard to Council Directive 2006/88/EC of 24 October 2006 on animal health requirements for aquaculture animals and products thereof, and on the prevention and control of certain diseases in aquatic animals (), and in particular Article 43(2) thereof, Whereas: 1 0] 0] Commission Decision 2010/221/EU of 15 April 2010 approving national measures for limiting the impact of certain diseases in aquaculture animals and wild aquatic animals in accordance with Article 43 of Council Directive 2006/88/EC (?) allows certain Member States to apply placing on the market and import restrictions on consignments of those animals in order to prevent the introduction of certain diseases into their territory, provided that they have either demonstrated that their territory, or certain demarcated areas of their territory, are free of such diseases or that they have established an eradication programme to obtain such freedom. Since 2008, increased mortality in Pacific oysters (Cras- sostrea gigas) has occurred in several areas in Ireland, France and the United Kingdom. The epidemiological investigations undertaken in 2009 suggested that a newly described strain of ostreid herpesvirus-1 (OsHV- 1), namely OsHV-1 pvar, played a major role in the increased mortality. Commission Regulation (EU) No 175/2010 of 2 March 2010 implementing Council Directive 2006/88/EC as regards measures to control increased mortality in L 328, 24.11.20006, p. 14. L 98, 20.4.2010, p. 7. ) oysters of the species Crassostrea gigas in connection with the detection of Ostreid herpesvirus 1 pvar (OsHV-1 pvar) }) was adopted with the aim of preventing the further spread of OsHV-1 pvar. It introduced measures to control the spread of that disease and it applies until 30 April 2011. On 27 October 2010, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) adopted a scientific opinion on the increased mortality events in Pacific oysters, Crassostrea gigas (*) (the EFSA opinion). In that opinion, the EFSA concludes that OsHV-1, both the reference strain and the new p variant (pvar) of that oyster herpesvirus, have been associated with high levels of mortality in Pacific oysters spat and juveniles and that available evidence suggests that an infection with OsHV-1 is a necessary cause but may not be sufficient by itself as other factors appear to be important. The EFSA opinion further concludes that OsHV-1 pvar seems to be the dominant viral strain in the 2008-2010 increased mortality outbreaks although it is not clear if this is a result of increased virulence or other epidemiological factors. In 2010, Ireland, Spain, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom established programmes for the early detection of OsHV-1 pvar and applied the relevant movement restrictions  provided for in Regulation (EU) No 175/2010. The outcome of the surveillance undertaken by those Member States in the framework of those programmes suggests that parts of the Union are free of OsHV-1 pvar. Ireland and the United Kingdom have submitted to the Commission surveillance programmes for approval in accordance with Directive 2006/88/EC (the surveillance programmes). The surveillance programmes aim to demonstrate that the areas where OsHV-1 pvar has not been detected are free of that virus and to prevent its introduction into those areas. () O] L 52, 3.3.2010, p. 1. (*) EFSA Journal 2010;8(11):1894.