The UK is not ready for another outbreak of a major animal disease like foot and mouth or bird flu, experts have warned, as it emerged just 5% of live animal imports are undergoing physical checks
Britain would struggle to cope with a major outbreak of an animal disease because of serious flaws in border control and a lack of ‘long-term’ strategy, a watchdog has warned.
Infections such as foot and mouth, bird flu, bluetongue and African swine fever could pose serious threats to human health in England and put the farming sector, food security, and wildlife at risk, the new report from the National Audit Office (NAO) said. And the economic impact associated with a new ‘epizootic’ event would likely spiral into the billions of pounds, with the devastating 2001 outbreak of foot and mouth costing the equivalent of £13.8 billion in today’s prices.
It left rural businesses devastated, saw thousands of animals slaughtered and the countryside shut to recreation and tourism.
Under strict rules designed to stop the spread, just one positive case of foot and mouth detected on a farm site meant that all livestock had to be destroyed – and farmers say they still are still haunted by the hellish ‘fire pits’ designed to incinerate the remains.
The last outbreak in the UK was back in 2007 – but the disease is spreading again in mainland Europe, with confirmed cases in Germany, Hungary, and Slovakia this year.
Meanwhile, 7.2 million birds have been culled in avian flu outbreaks since 2020, which have also ripped through wild seabird colonies across the UK.
But while the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) has worked hard to tackle recent outbreaks, the NAO said it is likely the public bodies would struggle with a more severe outbreak or concurrent serious outbreaks. The report from the NAO warned that long-term resilience to disease in livestock was being undermined by officials having to focus on increasingly frequent outbreaks – and there was no long-term strategy for improving the situation.
Significant gaps were found in contingency plans for outbreaks, and plans for specific diseases have not been updated with the latest findings, with its strategy for coping with foot and mouth disease not updated since 2011. Just 5% of live animal imports are undergoing physical checks, all taking place at the final customer destination, against a target of 100% checks at border control, raising the risk of “exotic” diseases arriving from abroad. A fifth of vet roles are vacant at the APHA, and there is a “very high” risk of site failure at the Government’s key animal science lab at Weybridge, the report said. The report said that while a £2.8 billion redevelopment programme at Weybridge was now on the way, the main new laboratory facilities will not be delivered for another 10 years. The report found Defra thought there was a “very high” risk of an outbreak to which it would be unable to respond effectively, but it lacks a long-term strategy and action plan for improving resilience to animal disease, and many of its activities are reactive rather than part of a coherent plan. A comprehensive livestock movement tracing system – crucial once infection is detected – is lacking, with the costs of an upgraded scheme now estimated at £563 million amid concerns over delivering it in the face of rising costs and funding constraints, while there are also issues with vaccine supplies. Gareth Davies, head of the NAO, said: “Defra has assessed that the risk of an outbreak to which it would be unable to respond effectively is above the level it considers tolerable, but it has not determined a way to reduce this risk. “A long-term strategy and action plan are urgently needed, to protect national economic resilience as well as food security, human health and rural communities.” Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, chairman of the parliamentary Committee of Public Accounts, said the Government’s preparations for a future major outbreak “are being hampered by a lack of capacity, skills and long-term strategy”, and said the failure to carry out checks on animal imports was “threatening biosecurity at the border.”
Biosecurity Minister Baroness Hayman said: “This Government’s commitment to maintaining the country’s biosecurity in the face of the mounting risks of disease is unwavering – we will do whatever it takes to protect our farmers and economy.
“We took immediate action to ban personal imports of meat and dairy from Europe after a wave of foot and mouth cases on the continent and, after years of underinvestment, we are investing £200 million into a new National Biosecurity Centre.”