Responsibilities of veterinarians and aquatic animal health professionals
Article 12
1. Veterinarians shall in the course of their activities which fall within the scope of this Regulation: (a) take all appropriate measures to prevent the introduction, development and spread of diseases; (b) take action to ensure the early detection of diseases by carrying out proper diagnosis and differential diagnosis to rule out or confirm a disease; (c) play an active role in: (i) raising animal health awareness, and awareness of the interaction between animal health, animal welfare and human health; (ii) disease prevention; (iii) the early detection of, and rapid response to, diseases. (iv) raising awareness of resistance to treatments, including antimicrobial resistance, and its implications; (d) cooperate with the competent authority, operators, animal professionals and pet keepers in the application of the disease prevention and control measures provided for in this Regulation. 2. Aquatic animal health professionals may undertake activities assigned to veterinarians under this Regulation in relation to aquatic animals provided that they are authorised to do so by the Member State concerned under national law. In that event, paragraph 1 shall apply to those aquatic animal health professionals. 3. Veterinarians and aquatic animal health professionals shall maintain and develop their professional capacities related to their areas of activities which fall within the scope of this Regulation.