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Concerns are growing about Britain’s ability to handle an outbreak of African swine fever (ASF), with the Animal Plant and Health Agency (APHA) already stretched by the avian influenza (AI) epidemic. ��ż��� reports.

In August, the Government introduced controls on the movement of pork and pork products into Great Britain in a bid to protect the domestic pig herd from ASF, which is sweeping across the continent.

But a 24-hour exercise carried out by Dover port authorities two weeks ago, during which officials found unlabelled, rotten meat in vehicles from Romania, Moldova, Ukraine and Poland, has reignited fears it is only a matter of time before ASF reaches the UK.

Charlie Dewhirst, senior policy adviser at the National Pig Association, said: “The APHA already has its hands full with AI.

“Britain is poorly prepared to defend itself against a single widespread disease outbreak, let alone a combination of two.”

If ASF were to hit the UK, Mr Dewhirst said it would be ‘devastating’ for the industry and could endanger the critical mass of the pig herd.

Further fears about the APHA’s ability to cope with a double disease threat have been stoked by the Government’s plans to cut spending in the upcoming fiscal statement.

“If Defra is asked to seek efficiencies in its budget, they should not come from the APHA,” said Mr Dewhirst.

“No other Government agency can provide the vital services of horizon scanning and responding to a notifiable disease outbreak.”

This week, Defra made the decision to introduce a national housing order across England from November 7 in a bid to halt the spread of AI, making it a legal requirement for all poultry farmers to keep their birds indoors.

The Government also announced it would allow producers to claim compensation at the start of any planned cull, rather than at the end, in order to help ease cashflow pressures.

Under the previous rules, some farmers had reported losing up to 42,000 in compensation after being forced to wait a week for a cull to take place, by which time most of the birds were already dead.

Robert Gooch, chief executive of the British Free Range Egg Producers Association, welcomed the news, but questioned the timing.

He said: “As the number of AI cases continues to rise, the situation has become even harder for those affected, as culling teams have struggled to cope with the additional work.

“This is something we flagged to Defra many times and we have now seen a change in policy which many of our members will feel is too little, too late.”

A Defra spokesperson said the UK had strict biosecurity controls on the highest risk imports of animals and animal products.

The department did not comment on possible budget cuts.