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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has made an estimate of the economic effect of an outbreak of African swine flu in the UK; and if he will make a statement.

The Department has estimated that the economic effect of a reasonable worst case scenario outbreak of African swine fever could cost the UK up to £90m at 2018 prices. This total estimate includes costs to industry from lost and culled livestock, costs to Government from control activities and lost value of trade.

While this estimate represents an informed assessment of the potential impact of an outbreak, exact costs would be determined by a large number of factors including geographic location, the husbandry system, epidemiology of the outbreak and whether wildlife were involved.