| answer text |
<p>The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), compiles the UK contingency plan for
exotic notifiable disease that sits above plans designed by Defra and the Scottish,
Welsh and Northern Ireland Governments.</p><p>These are key documents that describe
the strategic, tactical and operational responses required to any incursion of exotic
notifiable disease, such as foot and mouth disease. These plans are complemented by
specific GB disease control strategies and APHA work with the Government Departments
in each administration to produce the necessary operational instructions.</p><p>To
ensure the plans and instructions are fit for purpose, the UK runs a national animal
disease exercise roughly every other year on various exotic diseases and we regularly
include foot and mouth disease in those exercises.</p><p>The next national exercise
will be in June 2018 and will be based on a foot and mouth disease scenario.</p><p>APHA
also create and manage an annual programme of regional or country exercises designed
to identify best practice and any gaps in existing plans or procedures. They also
run table-top exercises for APHA’s policy customers to identify issues that may arise
from new and emerging threats such as African Horse Sickness.</p>
|
|
