Animal disease control

Current notifiable disease restrictions affecting livestock in the East Riding, protecting your livestock and reporting concerns.

What is a 'notifiable disease'?

‘Notifiable’ diseases are animal diseases that you’re legally obliged to report to the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), even if you only suspect they are affected.

Notifiable diseases can be:

  • endemic – already present in the UK, such as 'bovine TB'

  • exotic – not normally present in the UK, such as 'foot and mouth disease' and avian influenza (bird flu).

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) provides more information:

GOV.UK - Notifiable diseases in animals (external website)

Are there any current notifiable disease restrictions affecting livestock or poultry in the East Riding?

There are currently no disease control zones arising from infected premises in place in the East Riding and Great Britain wide Avian Influenza Prevention Zone has been lifted. However, the risk of Avian Influenza from wild birds remains high and cases continue to be confirmed in Great Britain. This means maintaining a high standard of biosecurity remains a key measure to reduce the risk of further avian influenza (bird flu) outbreaks. Poultry and captive bird keepers should remain vigilant for any signs of disease in their birds, and seek prompt advice from their vet if they have any concerns.

Information on cases, the restrictions and on the DEFRA interactive map to check if an area falls within in a disease control zone can be found on the GOV.UK website - Avian influenza (external website).

All poultry keepers are still encouraged to register their birds on the GB Poultry register so they can be contacted quickly if there is a disease outbreak in their area. This is a legal requirement for keepers of more than 50 birds and highly recommended for all keepers.

You can register your birds on the government's website at:

GOV.UK website - How to register your birds (external website)

How can I protect my livestock and poultry from disease?

Livestock

The maintenance of strict biosecurity procedures will minimise the risk of infection, in conjunction with remaining vigilant for signs of disease and reporting suspicions immediately.

Read information about controlling disease in farm animals on the GOV.UK website.

Poultry

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) have produced some useful guidance on protecting poultry:

Defra - Biosecurity and preventing welfare impacts in poultry and captive birds (pdf 350kb)

GOV.UK Website - Bird Flu Posters for bird keepers (external website)

Defra - Biosecurity self-assessment check list (word 45kb)

Who should I contact if I suspect a notifiable disease?

If you notice signs of any notifiable disease in your livestock, you must report them immediately to your local Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) office.

The East Riding is in the APHA 'North Region' and can be contacted on:

Tel: 03000 200 301

Please note: if you find dead wild birds such as swans, geese, ducks, gulls or birds of prey, you should report this to the Defra helpline, as they may want to collect and test them for bird flu.

Tel: 03459 335577

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