Key public bodies are insufficiently prepared for a major animal
disease1 outbreak and would likely struggle to cope with one, the
latest report from the National Audit Office finds.
Factors such as climate change and anti-microbial resistance mean
outbreaks are increasingly frequent and livestock more
vulnerable, but government lacks a strategy and action plan for
improving resilience to animal diseases.
Past animal disease outbreaks have had significant economic
impacts. For example, the major foot and mouth disease outbreak
of 2001 cost the public and private sectors an estimated £13.8
billion (in 2023-24 prices). Recent outbreaks of highly
pathogenic bird flu have resulted in 7.2 million birds being
culled between November 2020 and mid-March 2025.
Defra and APHA have worked hard to manage recent medium-severity
outbreaks, but the report finds a range of challenges leading to
them being insufficiently prepared for a more severe outbreak.
These include:
- Significant gaps in government contingency plans.
- Outdated and inefficient operational processes within APHA.
- Out of date infrastructure, particularly relating to the
government's animal science facility at Weybridge. Defra's
programme to redevelop Weybridge is now on track but will not be
completed for another 10 years.
- No comprehensive livestock movement tracing system, despite
attempts to establish one beginning in 2013.
- Capacity and skills shortages - for example, APHA's vet
vacancy rate in April 2025 was 20%.
Defra and APHA have introduced initiatives to strengthen
resilience2, such as the Animal Health and Welfare Pathway, which
provides funding to support improvements in animal health on
farms, and research and innovation to improve detection and
response to disease.
However, progress is being undermined by global issues with
supply of animal vaccines3 and significant threats to biosecurity
at the border.
Defra's best estimate for the proportion of live animal imports
from the EU and the rest of the world currently undergoing
physical checks is 5%, against a government target of 100% at
border control posts by the end of 2024.4
Defra and APHA have a good understanding of new and emerging
risks from animal diseases, a core principle of resilience. They
have robust arrangements in place to gather intelligence on
animal disease risks through ‘horizon scanning' and international
disease monitoring. APHA also conducts surveillance, testing and
inspections of premises to help detect infections early and stop
their spread.
But, the report says, responding to increasingly frequent
outbreaks has affected Defra's and APHA's ability to undertake
other important work that would help strengthen resilience in the
longer term. Their current approach, where staff switch priority
from business-as-usual activities to outbreak response, is
unlikely to be fit for purpose if they are in almost constant
outbreak mode.
, 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.”
ENDS
Notes for Editors
Press notices and reports are available from the date of
publication on the NAO website. Hard copies can be obtained by
using the relevant links on our website.
- Animal diseases are categorised as exotic (not normally
present in the UK, such as foot and mouth disease) or endemic
(already present in the UK, such as bovine tuberculosis).
- Figure 8 describes a range of measures put in place by Defra
and APHA to improve resilience.
- The Veterinary Medicines Directorate told us that supply
issues have become more acute in the last two years, in part due
to structural issues in the global market and limited incentives
on the private sector to produce animal vaccines.
- This target was set out in the government's 2023 Border
Target Operating Model, and included specific exemptions or
reduced checks for some types of high health equines (such as
racehorses) from low-risk countries, some zoological animals and
some live aquatic animals.