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Review into handling of Foot and Mouth Disease outbreak published

CowsEnvironment Secretary Hilary Benn today welcomed a report into last summer’s Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) outbreak.

Foot and Mouth Disease2007: A Review and Lessons Learned was written by Dr Iain Anderson, who carried out a review into the handling of the 2001 FMD outbreak.

Itcommends the Government’s overall handling of the 2007 outbreak, stating that “many of the lessons identified in the 2002 report had been acted upon and performance, taken as a whole, was much improved.” It concludes that “on balance, the positive easily outweighs the negative”, but it does identify deficiencies that need to be addressed.

Responding in a written ministerial statement, Mr Benn said that the Government would carefully consider the report’s recommendations and work with partners to decide what further steps were needed to ensure that we are as prepared as possible to prevent and control animal disease outbreaks in the future.

Thanking Dr Anderson and his team for their work, Mr Benn said: 

“Many of Dr Anderson’s recommendations encourage us to build on the improvements that have already been made; for example in strengthening communications, assessing and managing risk and exercising and testing contingency plans. I agree that even when things have gone well, we can always do better in future.

“As well as finding much progress compared to 2001, Dr Anderson’s review also points to things that didn’t go right and where further action is recommended."

Mr Benn stressed that the fact that theWorld Animal Health Organisation (OIE) has now officially declared that the UK has regained freedom from FMD without vaccination, was the result of co-operation and partnership between Defra, Animal Health and local authorities, in addition to delivery partners and the farming and food chain industries.

Mr Benn said:

“I would like to pay tribute to all of those organisations who gave their time and experience and were an integral part of the response to the disease. 

“Farmers, as well as Government, are well placed to take effective action to prevent the spread of disease, and that is why we are continuing to work closely with the farming sector and others on responsibility and cost sharing.

“The aim is to ensure that both Government and others have contingency plans in place to deal with disease outbreaks.” 

He added that even when confined to a small number of infected premises in a limited geographical area, as in 2007, the impact of an FMD outbreak can be far-reaching on the livestock sector, the food chain and the wider community.

Further information

Page published: 11 March 2008