Following reports of a confirmed case of foot and mouth disease (FMD) in Hungary, close to the Austrian border, the Government has stepped up preventative measures.
Due to the proximity of the new Hungarian case to the Austrian border, the decision has been made to suspend the commercial import from Austria of cattle, pigs, sheep, goats, wild ruminants and porcines (including deer and wild boar), and their untreated products such as fresh meat and dairy.
The UK Government had already taken action to suspend the commercial import of these products from Slovakia, Hungary and Germany.
Action is already underway with local authorities and traders to address possible risks from goods on the way to GB. Such goods must be pre-notified and wider border systems in place will prevent consignments entering GB.
In addition, travellers can no longer bring meat, meat products, milk and dairy products, certain composite products and animal by products of pigs and ruminants (including non-domestic species), or hay or straw, from Austria.
This is as well as the action already taken by the UK Government to prevent the personal import of these products from Germany, Hungary and Slovakia to Great Britain.
The UK Chief Veterinary Officer is urging livestock keepers to remain vigilant to the clinical signs of FMD following the recent outbreaks in Hungary and Germany. There are no cases in the UK currently.
UK Chief Veterinary Officer, Christine Middlemiss, said: “Following the detection of a second foot and mouth disease case in Hungary, with a restriction area crossing the border into Austria, we have taken action to prevent the commercial import of potentially risky goods from Austria.
“I would urge livestock keepers to continue exercising the upmost vigilance for signs of disease, ensure scrupulous biosecurity is maintained and to report any suspicion of disease immediately to the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA).”
Farming Minister Daniel Zeichner said: “We will continue to protect our nation’s farmers from the risk posed by foot and mouth disease.
“This is why we have acted immediately to impose import restrictions on Austria, we will continue to keep the situation under review and will not hesitate to add additional countries to the list if the disease continues to spread further.”
AIMS calls for further Government action
In a letter to Defra Secretary Steve Reed, the Association of Independent Meat Suppliers (AIMS) said that it believed urgent retraining of APHA staff was required to ensure competency in early disease detection and response. It also believed that veterinary inspector (VI) numbers must be “significantly increased”, biosecurity measures must be enhanced and implemented across all major entry points, and surveillance must be modernised.
AIMS said that if these issues were not addressed immediately, the UK would find itself “catastrophically unprepared” for an FMD outbreak. It stated that “failure to act now will cost the UK economy billions”, which would be “far more than the investment required to implement effective prevention measures”.
The letter read: “The UK’s pork and livestock industries are vital to national food security and economic stability. Without immediate action, we risk irreparable damage to these sectors, massive economic losses, and a food security crisis.
“We urge you to support these critical measures and stand with the British pork and livestock industries in preventing an avoidable disaster.
“We are happy to discuss this matter in more detail with all relevant Government departments as a matter of urgency.”
