Defra’s Foot and Mouth Disease Contingency Plan

UK - Defra's existing contingency plan for foot and mouth disease has been continuously reviewed and updated in light of experiences and lessons learned from the 2001 outbreak.

29 March 2003

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This was consolidated into a draft Interim Contingency Plan that was publicised for discussion and comment. The plan was termed ‘interim’ until the official Inquiries into the 2001 outbreak had reported. The interim contingency plan was comprehensively reviewed as a result of the recommendations made by Dr. Anderson and the Royal Society Inquiry.

As a result of this review a revised version of the Contingency Plan 28 March 2003 has been produced. The plan is an operational document (it does not address questions of policy) and provides a framework for an emergency response to a foot and mouth outbreak. The implementation of control policies will be subject to veterinary risk assessment in the event of a further outbreak, to ensure that the response is proportionate. The plan remains a work-in-progress and will be subject to regular review and updates.

If you would like to comment on the content of the plan, please e-mail: -

To read the revised version of this plan (PDF document - 340KB) - Click Here

Defra's FMD Decision Tree has also been published. Click Here to view.

Source: DEFRA - 28th March 2003