Updated outbreak assessment for African swine fever in wild boar and domestic pigs in Eastern Europe and Belgium

Since the previous report in May 2022, a case of African swine fever (ASF) has been confirmed in domestic pigs in a new region of Germany, roughly 15km from the Netherlands border.

Clinical signs were detected in sows on 1 July 2022 and disease control measures immediately put in place.

The latest cases in Germany represent new “jumps” in disease distribution which is the fifth such event in Europe in the last two months.

This is concerning as it would appear that none of these cases have arisen as a result of the movement of infected pigs or wild boar. Instead, the other likely pathways are human mediated transport of infected products or contaminated equipment / products (fomites). This is confirmed by the genotyping of the virus from the new outbreaks and the epidemiological investigations.

Therefore, while the overall risk of entry of ASF virus into the UK from all combined pathways remains at medium, because of the regular detection of outbreaks and wild boar cases in new areas as a result of human-mediated routes, this particular pathway is now considered to be HIGH. There is considerable uncertainty as the movement of people into the UK at present is affected by travel disruption, fuel prices and reducing seasonal worker numbers.

To read more about the update, click here.

The FSA have shared the latest Early Warning System (EWS) for Imported Food and Feed for June 2022. The issue highlights recent results based on the analysis of EU RASFF (Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed) notifications for imports of food and feed from outside and inside the EU; other international intelligence gathered via the FSA’s Signal Prioritisation dashboard; and since January 2021 EWS also includes UK Border Notifications (BNs) issued when unsatisfactory imports are rejected at UK ports or found inland. Awareness of these findings can assist your sampling programmes.

To find out more, click here.

Updated outbreak assessment for African swine fever in wild boar and domestic pigs in Eastern Europe and Belgium

Since the previous report in May 2022, a case of African swine fever (ASF) has been confirmed in domestic pigs in a new region of Germany, roughly 15km from the Netherlands border.

Clinical signs were detected in sows on 1 July 2022 and disease control measures immediately put in place.

The latest cases in Germany represent new “jumps” in disease distribution which is the fifth such event in Europe in the last two months.

This is concerning as it would appear that none of these cases have arisen as a result of the movement of infected pigs or wild boar. Instead, the other likely pathways are human mediated transport of infected products or contaminated equipment / products (fomites). This is confirmed by the genotyping of the virus from the new outbreaks and the epidemiological investigations.

Therefore, while the overall risk of entry of ASF virus into the UK from all combined pathways remains at medium, because of the regular detection of outbreaks and wild boar cases in new areas as a result of human-mediated routes, this particular pathway is now considered to be HIGH. There is considerable uncertainty as the movement of people into the UK at present is affected by travel disruption, fuel prices and reducing seasonal worker numbers.

To read more about the update, click here.

The number of cases of children hospitalised with severe allergic reactions in England has increased by 72 per cent over the last six years, according to new NHS Digital data.

The figures obtained by The Natasha Allergy Research Foundation record 1,746 cases of hospital admissions with anaphylactic shock among those aged 18 and under in 2018-19, compared to 1,015 in 2013-14.

Overall, including adults, there has been a 34% rise in admissions over the same period.

Tanya Ednan-Laperouse, of the Natasha Allergy Research Foundation, said: “These terrifying figures show we are facing an allergy emergency. The number of children with allergies and suffering severe allergic reactions is rising year-on-year at a deeply alarming rate.

“Scientists don’t yet understand why the numbers of children with allergies are on the rise which is why it is vital that we invest in large scale research projects into both the causes and potential cures.”

Tanya and her husband Nadim set up NARF following the death of their 15-year-old daughter Natasha, who died after suffering a severe allergic reaction after eating a Pret a Manger baguette containing hidden sesame seeds in July 2016. Since her death, the government has introduced Natasha’s Law forcing food-to-go shops to provide full ingredient labelling. The Foundation’s stated aim is to fund and support research into curing allergies.

If you were ever in a situation where you had to administer an EpiPen, would you know what to do? It’s worth taking less than two minutes of your time to watch this video of Dr Zoe on ITV’s This Morning demonstrating how to use an EpiPen. Knowing how to use one, could help to save someone’s life.

The development of products such as methane reducing animal feeds and high protein crops have received a boost recently with Defra opening a £12.5m competition to support research and innovation.

Farmers, growers, foresters, businesses and researchers are invited to apply with projects to help increase domestic production of healthy and sustainable protein. The competition is part of the Government’s £270 million Farming Innovation Programme being run in partnership with UK Research and Innovation’s Transforming Food Production Challenge to help spark new ideas and collaboration across the sector.

The aim is to accelerate the development of novel and disruptive technologies to create new sources of resource efficient, low-emission proteins, leading to a more sustainable farming model for the future. This will help improve farming productivity, resilience in the sector and move existing agricultural sectors towards net zero.

Defra Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Steve Double, said:

Our farmers and food producers are the best in the world, and we want to encourage collaboration across the sector to help improve productivity and sustainability.

Food production and environmental protection are two sides of the same coin. It’s why we are spending £270m to support farmers to innovate for the future through the Farming Innovation Programme.

Whether it’s a game-changing animal feed that helps animals produce less methane or new high-protein crops, this competition is now open to support its development.

Katrina Hayter, Challenge Director for UKRI’s Transforming Food Production Challenge, said:

When it comes to addressing the key issues of productivity and sustainability in the UK food sector, we’re looking for applicants who are truly able to demonstrate and deliver – and on-farm protein production is no different. It’s vital that new technologies disrupt the status quo, bringing with them measurable improvements to the environmental impact of food production and more sustainable models for the future. We’re looking forward to working with applicants and supporting those who can truly move the needle forwards with new farm-based protein solutions.

This competition is split into ‘Feasibility’ projects (up to 2 years), and ‘Industrial Research’ (up to 5 years for breeding projects). Projects must have a value of £200k-£500k and £500k-£1m respectively.

Altogether, Defra expects to spend around £600 million on grants and other support for farmers to invest in productivity, animal health and welfare, innovation, research and development over the next 3 years.

To find out more or to apply, click here.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and The Food Standards Agency (FSA) have announced a grant of £1.5 million will be given to local authorities to help them enforce new food labelling laws.

Following the implementation of Natasha’s Law in October 2021, businesses have had to ensure that all foods pre-packed now show a full list of ingredients, with all the major allergens highlighted.

Local authorities will be inspecting businesses to ensure they’re meeting the new requirements, which means an increased workload.

Defra and FSA will pay for these extra costs until 31^st March 2023, calculations have been based on the assumption that businesses selling pre-packed foods will be inspected every two years.

To see a full list of local authorities set to receive the grant, click here.