Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what state of readiness is the UK for a possible incursion of Foot and Mouth Disease in terms of vaccine stocks and outbreak response.

The UK Government is prepared to respond to outbreaks of Foot and Mouth and has contingency arrangements in place, including for the control of infected premises and for animal movement controls in areas around confirmed cases. Vaccination is not the primary control tool. The framework to manage risk can be found on GOV.UK in the Foot and Mouth Disease Control Strategy for Great Britain supported by the Contingency plan for exotic notifiable diseases of animals in England.

The UK holds a Foot and Mouth vaccine bank, although use of a vaccine requires a match to the field strain. In the absence of a match, we work with pharmaceutical companies and international vaccine banks to seek access to alternative supplies.