Animal Disease
What is the risk of animal disease in Warwickshire?
Animal disease can occur amongst wild birds and animals, and in farming animals.
As recently as November 2022 there was an outbreak of Avian Influenza within Warwickshire and surrounding areas. Avian Influenza has been common across the globe lately.
There was a recent case of Swine Flu in the UK which, back in 2009 was declared as a Pandemic.
Other animal diseases have been reported elsewhere in the world.
How could animal disease
affect you and your family?
Animal diseases have a serious consequence for Warwickshire’s farming industry and the food chain. Movement and travel restrictions brought in to reduce the spread of disease can damage rural industry and the wider economy.
We can all be better prepared to
respond and recover from animal diseases
Follow these practical steps so you and your family can be better prepared for animal diseases:
If you keep livestock, you must:
Register your land details with the rural payment’s agency.
Register your livestock with the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) and the Local Authority Animal health advice – Warwickshire County Council.
If you keep more than 50 birds, register with Defra
Keep farm records accurate and up to date
If you're unsure about stringent hygiene, use Defra-approved disinfectants
Sign up to receive the latest news of exotic notifiable animal disease outbreaks in Britain
Plan ahead
This will help you, your family and community, avoid a disease outbreak and possible animal problems, more information at:
How to prepare
your business
Find your emergency contacts for animal diseases
Dealing with Animal Disease when an outbreak occurs:
- Be vigilant and report any signs of disease without delay. Livestock Disease Outbreaks | CSW Resilience Team (cswprepared.org.uk).
- Notifiable diseases in animals - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
- Immediately report any signs of exotic notifiable disease in your animals to the Animal and Plant Agency (APHA) (tel. 03000 200 301).
- Comply with any restrictions or instructions that are in place such as bio-security and disposal of animal by-product restrictions.
- Keep livestock/birds inside during animal health disease outbreaks and follow guidance related to control zones. More guidance on safe bird housing here.
- Cleaning and disinfecting after an outbreak of animal disease produces more wash water with higher concentrations of disinfectant than routine cleaning. Guidance on how to prevent pollution from cleaning can be found at: www.gov.uk/guidance/animal-disease-outbreak-prevent-pollution-from-cleaning-and-disinfection.
General guidance:
- Always follow the Countryside Code www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-countryside-code/the-countryside-code-advice-for-countryside-visitors.
- If you see dead wild birds, report it to Defra (www.gov.uk/guidance/report-dead-wild-birds) or via phone on 03459 335577.
- If you see a dead animal on public land (wild or domestic) report it to your District or Borough Council. Do not touch it or pick it up.

What is being done to become
better prepared?
LRF partners responsible for Animal Health, monitor animal health diseases and deaths across the country and identify if there are any ‘trends’ occurring.
We will prepare an emergency plan to reduce the spread of disease should an outbreak occur.
We will also work with farmers and livestock keepers to raise awareness of animal disease, promote good hygiene, advise on licensing conditions and enforce movement restrictions in affected areas.
Who is responsible for managing
animal diseases in the county?
Visit the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs website – For information about animal disease prevention and the latest animal disease news updates.
Further advice can be found at Warwickshire County Council’s website -
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