THE Government is not prioritising the threat of animal diseases which could be devastating to farmers, rural communities and society, an MP has warned.

Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee has warned the UK’s main animal disease facility, the Animal and Plant Health Agency’s (APHA) site near Weybridge in Surrey, has been ‘left to deteriorate to an alarming extent’.

That is despite the devastating consequences of diseases, such as foot and mouth disease and the recent avian influenza, for farming communities, while Covid-19 has shown the extent of the impact when an animal-sourced virus jumps the species barrier into humans.

Currently, the UK faces threats from on-going diseases including bovine tuberculosis, new potential viruses such as African swine fever and diseases that affect pets, such as rabies, a report from the committee said.

Dr Neil Hudson, MP for Penrith and The Border and Member of the EFRA Select Committee, said: “The PCC report on Animal Health Infrastructure makes stark reading. As a vet and EFRA Committee MP I was honoured to be invited to join the PAC for their Evidence session for the report. The work that APHA does goes under the radar for people at large until we are faced with a dangerous disease outbreak which we are dealing with valiantly at the moment with the Avian Influenza Outbreak. The Weybridge site is pivotal in our defence against outbreaks and it is vital it is redeveloped as a priority. If this is not done, the consequences could be devastating. This is so important for my Cumbrian constituency and other areas where livestock farming is critical to the local economy and at the heart of our rural community.

“This issue is personal to me as I was deployed on the ground as a Veterinary Surgeon during the culls of the 2001 foot and mouth crisis, bearing witness to scenes I never want to see again. In fact, my decision to become a politician was directly impacted by these experiences. The PAC Report drives home the need for a strong, fully financed animal health infrastructure able to prevent diseases and provide resolute action when disaster strikes.”

APHA’s Weybridge site is the UK’s primary science facility.