Epidemic Readiness

GZM AG is responsible for epidemic readiness in Swiss agriculture and in this capacity is a partner to the federal government and cantonal governments; particularly in the north-west and western cantons. In extreme situations, GZM AG ensures capacity is available to collect large numbers of infectious animal carcasses safely and securely within a very short period of time.

As a result of its capacity to process carcasses, GZM has been assigned the task of epidemic readiness by 11 cantons (AG, BE, BL, BS, FR, GE, JU, NE, SO, VD, VS).

GZM is thus always able to provide adequate transport capacity and trained personnel to transport animals slain by cantonal veterinary authorities to the facilities in Lyss for processing, without any risk of infection during the transport process.

As a rule, no animal carcasses are incinerated in Switzerland, even in the event of an epidemic. Instead, they are immediately picked up, sterilised and processed into meat and bone meal and animal fat. The end products are then taken to be incinerated.

A suitable organisation has been set up for epidemic readiness, and specialised equipment with disinfection devices, troughs and loading vehicles are available to collect animals.

Animal disease dossier – updated December 2024

Help with an outbreak of animal disease – Information I Descriptions I Checklists (in German)

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Epidemic file