Original title
Resilience to animal diseases
Language: English
Audit Description
Animal disease outbreaks are a significant threat to England’s farming sector, to food security, to human health, to rural communities, to animal keepers and to the economy and trade. They can also have a negative impact on wildlife. Past 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 £5.2 billion and £8.6 billion, respectively (in 2023-24 prices). Recent outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) – commonly known as bird flu – have resulted in 7.2 million birds being culled between November 2020 and mid-March 2025. The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) has reported outbreaks in 16 of the past 20 years. This includes the UK’s largest HPAI outbreak to date, in winter 2022-23, and concurrent outbreaks of HPAI and bluetongue virus (BTV), which affects sheep, cattle and other ruminants, in 2024-25. Government and industry are also concerned about other exotic diseases such as African swine fever, which is spreading in parts of Europe, Asia and Africa. The government’s 2025 National Risk Register (NRR) includes four exotic animal disease outbreaks that would have significant impacts, including economic impacts ranging from hundreds of millions to billions of pounds.
Documentation
Contact
international@nao.org.uk
https://www.nao.org.uk/
METAINFO
Database
Audit
Audit ID
1751900384465
Author (country)
United Kingdom
Type
Performance
Type of performance
Performed by single SAI
Topic (subject)
Agriculture and Food
Energy
Environment and Natural Resources
Health and Social Care (incl. Welfare Benefits)
