Notifiable diseases
If you suspect signs of any of the notifiable diseases in the tables on this page, you must immediately notify your local AHVLA office.
Main diseases
The main diseases we are primarily concerned with are as follows.
| Disease | Main species affected | Disease type | Occurred last in Great Britain |
| African horse sickness | Horses | Exotic | Never |
| African swine fever | Pigs | Exotic | Never |
| Avian influenza (bird flu) | Poultry | Exotic and Zoonotic | 2008 |
| Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy | Cattle | Zoonotic | Present |
| Bovine TB (tuberculosis) | Cattle and deer | Endemic | Present |
| Bluetongue | All ruminants and camelids | Exotic | 2008 |
| Classical swine fever | Pigs | Exotic | 2000 |
| Contagious equine metritis | Horses | Exotic | 2012 |
| Equine infectious anaemia | Horses | Exotic | 2012 |
| Equine viral arteritis | Horses | Exotic | 2010 |
| European bat lyssavirus (EBLV) | Bats | Exotic and Zoonotic | 2008 |
| Foot and Mouth Disease | Cattle, sheep, pigs and other cloven hoofed animals | Exotic | 2007 |
| Newcastle Disease | Poultry | Exotic | 2006 |
| Rabies (classical) | Dogs and other mammals | Exotic and Zoonotic | 1970 |
Further diseases
Information about the following diseases – most of which have never, or only very rarely, been recorded in Great Britain – is currently available on Defra’s archive website:
| Notifiable Disease | Main species affected | Disease type | Occurred last in Great Britain |
| Anthrax | Cattle and other mammals | Zoonotic | 2006 |
| Aujeszky’s Disease | Pigs and other mammals | Exotic | 1989 |
| Brucellosis (Brucella abortus) | Cattle | Exotic | 2004 |
| Brucellosis (Brucella melitensis) | Sheep and Goats | Exotic & Zoonotic | Never |
| Contagious agalactia | Sheep and Goats | Exotic | Never |
| Contagious bovine pleuro-pneumonia | Cattle | Exotic | 1898 |
| Contagious epididymitis (Brucella ovis) | Sheep and Goats | Exotic | Never |
| Dourine | Horses | Exotic | Never |
| Enzootic bovine leukosis | Cattle | Exotic | 1996 |
| Epizootic haemorrhagic virus disease | Deer | Exotic | Never |
| Epizootic lymphangitis | Horses | Exotic | 1906 |
| Equine viral encephalomyelitis | Horses | Exotic & Zoonotic | Never |
| Glanders and Farcy | Horses | Exotic | 1928 |
| Goat pox | Goats | Exotic | Never |
| Lumpy skin disease | Cattle | Exotic | Never |
| Paramyxovirus of pigeons | Pigeons | Exotic | Present |
| Pest des petits ruminants | Sheep and Goats | Exotic | Never |
| Rift valley fever | Cattle, Sheep and Goats | Exotic & Zoonotic | Never |
| Rinderpest (cattle plague) | Cattle | Exotic | 1877 |
| Scrapie (part of Defra’s archive BSE pages) | Sheep and goats | Endemic | Present |
| Sheep pox | Sheep | Exotic | 1866 |
| Swine vesicular disease | Pigs | Exotic | 1982 |
| Teschen disease (Porcine enterovirus encephalomyelitis) | Pigs | Exotic | Never |
| Vesicular stomatitis | Cattle, pigs and horses | Exotic | Never |
| Warble fly | Cattle, (also deer and horses) | Exotic | 1990 |
| West Nile virus | Horses | Exotic & Zoonotic | Never |
Key legal requirements
A notifiable disease is a disease named in section 88 of the Animal Health Act 1981 or an Order made under that Act. Section 15(1) of the Act says that:
“any person having in their possession or under their charge an animal affected or suspected of having one of these diseases must, with all practicable speed, notify that fact to a police constable.”
- Horse Diseases – details of diseases covered by the Infectious Diseases of Horses Order 1987.
- Specified Diseases – details of diseases made compulsorily notifiable by the Specified Diseases (Notification and Slaughter) Order 1992 (as amended) and the Specified Diseases (Notification) Order 1996 (as amended) to enact European Union Legislation
The Specified Diseases legislation extends the definition of “disease” in section 88 of the Animal Health Act 1981 to include the above diseases, and applies section 32 of the Act, which enables the Secretary of State to cause animals to be slaughtered on account of disease, to apply to these diseases.
Council Directive 92/119 does provide that certain specified Diseases shall be subject to compulsory slaughter, and the imposition of 3 km protection zone and a 10 km surveillance zone around premises where disease is confirmed. Restrictions would remain in force for a variable time depending on the incubation period of the disease in question.