Bird flu has left Britain at risk of other animal diseases, MPS warn

‘Covid-19 taught us that we cannot afford to ignore the threat posed by infectious diseases in animals’

BRITAIN’S ongoing avian flu outbreak has left the country vulnerable to another animal disease, MPS have warned.

A damning report from the Public Accounts Committee found the Government is “not sufficiently prioritising” animal diseases and the marquee animal lab in Weybridge has been “left to deteriorate to an alarming extent”.

This year’s bird flu outbreak led to a nationwide housing order for all captive birds and is the worst in history.

However, Dr Christine Middlemiss, the Chief Veterinary Officer, said it would probably only be categorised as a level three out of maximum of five.

The report found that if the outbreak was a level four or higher, or there was another outbreak comparable to that of bird flu occurring concurrently, the UK would “struggle to cope”.

Dr Middlemiss also warned that Weybridge does not have the level-four laboratories needed to handle the most dangerous diseases that pose a risk to human health.

Porton Down, the leading Government-run lab in the country, is the only place in the UK able to deal with level-four pathogens that can harm human health. However, there is a “very limited” capacity for this, the report warns, and the labs are too small to carry out testing on large animals, leaving Britain with no way to test horses, cows or other big animals for diseases that may harm people.

The report’s exposure of a litany of issues has worried experts.

However, scientists say the stark findings reinforce the need for the £2.8billion government investment to refurbish Weybridge, increase staffing and widen surveillance.

Dr Doug Brown, chief executive of the British Society for Immunology, said: “The Covid-19 pandemic has taught us that the UK cannot afford to ignore the threat posed by infectious diseases in animals, especially those with the potential to jump from animals to humans.”