UK ‘not ready' for major animal disease outbreak
Britain is not prepared to handle a major outbreak of disease in animals like bird flu, foot and mouth or African swine fever, the government's spending watchdog has warned.
The UK would be 'unable to respond effectively' to an animal outbreak, which could cost the UK economy billions in lost livestock and pose a significant risk to human health, according to a new report from the National Audit Office (NAO).
The report examines the readiness of the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and has found significant shortcomings in its contingency planning.
There is a 'very high risk' of Weybridge, the government's biosecure containment labs responsible for testing animal diseases, being unable to cope with the demands of testing and tracing in the event of a major outbreak, it said, noting that the issue 'has worsened' in recent years.
DEFRA rated the likelihood of such a failure at 25 out of 25, the maximum rating that can be given.
'The site is in poor condition, with ageing buildings that need major repair and replacement, and a lack of capacity to carry out research and testing,' the report says.
While a £2.8 billion redevelopment programme at Weybridge was now underway, the main new laboratory facilities will not be delivered for another 10 years, it added.
Plans for how outbreaks of several major diseases including bird flu, which has already killed more than seven million birds in Britain since 2020, have not been updated in more than a decade.
The government came under similar criticism during the Covid inquiry after it was revealed the UK did not have an up-to-date pandemic plan or strategy. The last one was published in 2011 and has not been revised since.
The risk of 'exotic' animal diseases entering the country is also rising, partly because only five per cent of live animal imports are being physically checked at the border – far below the target of 100 per cent set by the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), an arm of DEFRA, which was meant to be reached last year.
Adding to the concern, around 20 per cent of veterinary positions at APHA are currently unfilled, further weakening the UK's ability to respond swiftly to a crisis.
DEFRA also lacks a comprehensive livestock tracing system, which is 'crucial to responding quickly and effectively to contain an outbreak,' the report says.
The systems currently in place are 'fragmented' and 'run on outdated legacy systems,' including a cattle tracing platform which was set up in 1998 and has 'significant reliability issues'.
During recent outbreaks of H5N1 bird flu, APHA and local authorities had to distribute flyers in areas where the infection was present and send out teams to find farms at risk of contracting the virus, because the government agency did not have a complete list of poultry farms and bird keepers.
The government department has also failed to test its response capabilities in any meaningful way, according to the watchdog.
Exercises to test outbreak contingency plans have been increasingly 'table-top' exercises – meaning they are conducted online rather than in the field – which would better simulate a real outbreak scenario.
As it stands, a major animal disease outbreak would cost the UK economy hundreds of millions, or even billions, of pounds. The NAO cited the 2001 foot and mouth outbreak, which resulted in an estimated £13.8 billion in economic losses.
'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,' said Gareth Davies, head of the NAO.
Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, chairman of the parliamentary Committee of Public Accounts, said: 'Despite some good work to identify new threats, Government's preparations for a future major outbreak are being hampered by a lack of capacity, skills and long-term strategy.
'The government's failure to carry out checks on animal imports is also threatening biosecurity at the border. Resilience to a severe outbreak has not been tested in recent years, but the threat remains ever increasing as our livestock become more susceptible to disease.
'Without changes to the current operating system, there is a very real risk that the Government would not be able to respond effectively.'
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