Outbreaks of infectious animal diseases within the last 10 - 15 years in areas with intensive livestock production have shown how vulnerable the production systems can be when confronted with an outbreak of a highly infectious disease such as avian influenza, foot and mouth disease or classical swine fever. The veterinary administrations of the Nordic and Baltic countries have established contingency plans; the objectives of the plans include:

- to protect animal and human health
- to minimize economic loss for the livestock sector and the society as a whole
- to minimize damage to the environment.
This publication provides information on measures to be considered in contingency planning; the measures take into account:
- the pre-epidemic period; disease prevention
- the epidemic period; disease eradication
- the post-epidemic period; regaining of animal health status