The Animal and Plant Health Agency could be considered to act as the United Kingdom’s (UK) fourth emergency service – protecting the UK from a huge range of pests, and diseases of animals, plants and bees – and securing farmers’ livelihoods, food security, economic security, animal health and welfare and public health.
APHA prevents animal diseases entering or spreading in the UK (including those that can spread from animals to people like bird flu) through a combination of surveillance, diagnostics, research and, above all, rapid response when suspicions of a notifiable disease are reported.
APHA teams (including Field, Laboratory, Advice Services, Customer Service Centres, and Central Services) respond to disease reports 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, often in hostile and remote environments, and with little information available. Individuals need to make rapid decisions, under pressure, around next steps to ensure any potential incidence of a new disease outbreak is identified and contained as quickly as possible.
These dedicated, passionate and highly skilled people must balance this decision-making with the consequences – get it wrong and the repercussions could have a huge impact on the farming industry, trade and tourism. Which is why erring on the side of caution while further investigations take place to confirm whether disease is present is preferable to taking no action at all and potentially allowing a disease to spread.
Clinical signs of disease are not neat and tidy, they vary between species, they vary between stages of infection, they vary between individual animals. Many diseases have similar clinical signs. Simply observing these signs does not give a definitive diagnosis, and so laboratory tests and other evidence is needed to support the ultimate decision of confirmation or giving the all-clear.
One such disease, which has a devastating effect on farming, trade and tourism, not to mention animal health and welfare, is foot and mouth disease (FMD). The last localised outbreak in the UK was in 2007, and before that, a national outbreak in 2001 cost the country over £14 billion in monetary terms alone, and took over eight months to eradicate.
FMD is one of those diseases that cannot be clinically distinguished from other diseases, such as vesicular stomatitis, vesicular exanthema, and swine vesicular disease so the only way to be certain of a diagnosis is through a laboratory PCR test. The National Reference Laboratory for foot and mouth disease virus (FMDV) where tests are carried out is based at The Pirbright Institute.
As Head of England Field Delivery, I am responsible for the field team’s response to identifying and quickly containing potential animal disease and undertaking a detailed investigation.
To illustrate how quickly our staff are mobilised with the report of a notifiable disease, and in particular one as devastating as FMD, I can reflect on what happened recently when APHA was notified of suspicion of bluetongue virus 3 which has been circulating in England since early autumn 2024. A private vet notified APHA, as they are legally bound to do so, and an official APHA vet went to investigate within a few hours of the report being received. This case became a suspect FMD report case.
The first I knew about this is when I received a call while I was walking my dog, I returned home to find my work phone red hot with activity. By the time I had all the relevant information, it was clear our teams had already taken the action they needed to and were in full control of the situation. The premises concerned was put under precautionary restrictions (no movement of animals, people or materials, and to use disinfectants and enhanced levels of biosecurity) while additional samples could be taken late at night and sent to Pirbright for analysis. All this took place late on a Sunday evening. The repercussions of this decision meant a local livestock market, due to take place on Monday morning, had to be stopped until disease could be negated, so communication began late that evening to make sure any impacts were minimised.
Inspection of the source farm, and an Animal Health Officer at the market at 5:30am made sure that the market was supported in preventing animals entering. Then we received the initial negative blood result, and while waiting for the full results from the additional samples, teams from across APHA began preparations for any positive results. By the time we had the final negative results, we had sampling teams, valuation suppliers, culling contractors, and disposal solutions poised to roll into action. This was an incredible effort and demonstrates how we stand up when the biosecurity of the UK is under threat.
FMDV is highly contagious and spreads rapidly if not contained quickly. So, it is essential our response is rapid, ensuring we have a grip of the situation in the quickest possible timescales. APHA teams, in particular our vets, are making these decisions day in and day out – thankfully in this case the disease was negated. But without APHA’s ability for rapid response we would be at greater risk of a disease outbreak occurring and spreading rapidly with far reaching consequences.
Once we received negative bluetongue and negative FMD results from Pirbright, we were able to inform the keeper, lifting all restrictions. Our staff supported the keeper throughout the process and are acutely aware of the distress and disruption that occurs when suspicion of a notifiable disease occurs at a premises.
With two recent cases of FMD in Europe in as many months, the risk of this disease entering the UK is increasing, and APHA needs to make sure it is at the frontline to prevent it from taking hold should it enter. Farmers and the public must play their part too. Farmers by practicing good biosecurity and sourcing animals responsibly, the public by observing rules on bringing meat and other products of animal origin into the UK from countries affected by FMD and other animal diseases such as African swine fever and goat and sheep plague.
It is important for farmers to remain vigilant to signs of this disease and notify your private vet or APHA straight away if you are at all concerned – this swift action is vital to stop the spread of devastating animal diseases and protect everyone from the potential consequences
Find out more
For more information about foot and mouth disease and clinical signs in cattle, sheep and pigs visit Foot and mouth disease: how to spot and report it - GOV.UK.
1 comment
Comment by Simon Hewitt posted on
An interesting and very informative article Aled, which highlights the key role played by APHA in the prevention and control of exotic diseases - the importance of which can easily be overlooked!