Disease centre in ‘not fit for purpose’ claim

The UK’S primary centre for dealing with animal diseases has been allowed to deteriorate to a point where some facilities are no longer “fit for purpose” according to a National Audit Office (NAO) report.

Warning that this will leave the UK vulnerable to future disease outbreaks unless corrected, NAO blames the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) for the present state of affairs.

The NAO report refers to the Animal and Plant Health Agency’s (APHA’S) Weybridge site, which is described as having “ageing buildings in need of major repair and replacement”, alongside a lack of laboratory capacity which is “negatively affecting” APHA’S work.

“Animal diseases have major impacts on the UK, as demonstrated by outbreaks such as Foot and Mouth disease and Avian

Influenza,” said NAO, adding that Defra has under-invested in Weybridge, and the current short-term “patch and repair” approach is not sustainable.”

Although the Scottish Government has pledged to create a new standalone Scottish Veterinary Service (SVS), the importance of Weybridge in terms of UK disease control is worrying for farming leaders in Scotland.

“While Scotland is currently discussing plans for a new SVS, any future arrangements for animal disease identification, control and response will need very close cooperation across all devolved administrations,” said NFU Scotland’s Animal Health Policy Manager, Penny Middleton.

“That makes NAO’S concerns important to all livestock keepers alongside the need for Defra to ensure the premises are quickly made fit for purpose.”

Andy Mcgowan, managing director of Scottish Pig Producers, went further, describing the conditions at Weybridge as an “outrage”.

“It seems the Government isn’t content with ignoring the imposition of any controls on imports,” he said. “They also don’t have the infrastructure in place to deal with disease outbreaks when they occur.

“They appear to have their fingers crossed hoping nothing bad happens. Well, it’s going to happen, especially with Italy having just declared its first case of African Swine Fever (ASF), coinciding with the UK telling the world that it won’t carry out health checks on meat imports. You can guess where meat from Asf-hit countries will be heading.

“And now we’re told that if we do get an outbreak the UK’S disease infrastructure isn’t fit for purpose. It’s a total disgrace.”

WARNING: The NAO report claims the UK will be left vulnerable to disease outbreaks.