L 296/6 Official Journal of the European Union 15.11.2011 COMMISSION DELEGATED REGULATION (EU) No 1152/2011 of 14 July 2011 supplementing Regulation (EC) No 998/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards preventive health measures for the control of Echinococcus multilocularis infection in dogs (Text with EEA relevance) THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION, Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, Having regard to Regulation (EC) No 998/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 May 2003 on the animal health requirements  applicable to the non-commercial movement of pet animals and amending Council Directive 92/65[EEC ('), and in particular the second subparagraph of Article 5(1) thereof, Whereas: (1) Regulation (EC) No 998/2003 lays down animal health requirements  applicable to the non-commercial movement of pet animals. In particular, it lays down rules applicable to non-commercial movements into Member States of dogs, cats and ferrets and provides, where necessary, for preventive health measures to be adopted by means of delegated acts to ensure the control of diseases, other than rabies, likely to be spread due to the movement of those animals. Those measures are to be scientifically justified and propor- tionate to the risk of the spread of those diseases by such movements. In addition, Regulation (EC) No 998/2003 provides that pet animals are to be accompanied by a passport issued by a veterinarian authorised by the competent authority certifying, where necessary, that preventive health measures regarding diseases other than rabies were carried out on the animal in question. Alveolar echinococcosis is a parasitic disease caused by the tapeworm Echinococcus multilocularis.  Where the disease is established, the typical transmission cycle of the parasite in Europe is wildlife-based and involves wild carnivores as definitive hosts and several species of mammals, notably small rodents, as intermediate hosts which become infected by ingesting eggs disseminated with the faeces of definitive hosts into the environment. Although of secondary importance for the persistence of the life cycle of the parasite in endemic settings, dogs can be infested by ingesting infected rodents. As potential definitive hosts and due to close contacts to human, they may serve as a source of infection for humans as well as a source of contamination of the environment, including parasite-free areas behind natural barriers. () O] L 146, 13.6.2003, p. 1. There are no reports of ferrets being definitive hosts and according to the current knowledge, the contribution of cats to the transmission cycle is doubtful. Where humans are affected as aberrant intermediate hosts by the larval form of the tapeworm, severe clinical and pathological signs of the disease are observed after a long incubation period and in untreated or in inadequately treated patients, mortality may be more than 90 %. The increasing prevalence of the disease in wildlife, and in parallel in humans, in certain parts of Europe causes serious concern for public health authorities in many Member States. While Echinococcus  multilocularis infection in animals occurs in the northern hemisphere, including central and northern parts of Europe, Asia and North America, it has never been recorded in domestic and wild definitive hosts in certain areas of the European Union despite ongoing surveillance of wildlife and unrestricted access of dogs. The transboundary movement of infected wildlife has been identified by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), in a scientific opinion on the Assessment of the risk of echinococcosis introduction into the United Kingdom, Ireland, Sweden, Malta and Finland as a conse- quence of abandoning national rules (%), as the main potential route of incursion of the Echinococcus multi- locularis parasite, especially in areas lacking effective physical barriers, such as open seas. The EFSA considers that the epidemiological role of dogs in endemic settings is of limited importance for the life cycle of the parasite. However, the EFSA considers that the risk of the trans- mission cycle of the Echinococcus multilocularis parasite being established in suitable wild intermediate and definitive hosts in previously parasite-free areas is greater than negligible, where the parasite is introduced through the movement of infected dogs shedding eggs of the tapeworm. According to the EFSA, the risk of introducing the Echi- nococcus multilocularis parasite into previously parasite-free areas could be mitigated if dogs from endemic areas are treated. In order to prevent re-infection, such treatment should be applied as soon as possible prior to entry into the areas free of that parasite. However, a minimum post- treatment period of 24 hours is necessary to prevent the shedding of residual amounts of infectious eggs in the environment of the parasite-free area. (?) The EFSA Journal (2006) 441, 1-54 (http://www.efsa.europa.cufen/ efsajournal/doc/441.pdf).