The Animal Health Act 1981 is a piece of

UK legislation The United Kingdom has four legal systems, each of which derives from a particular geographical area for a variety of historical reasons: English and Welsh law, Scots law, Northern Ireland law, and, since 2007, purely Welsh law (as a result of ...

that provides powers for the control of outbreaks of

avian influenza Avian influenza, known informally as avian flu or bird flu, is a variety of influenza caused by viruses adapted to birds.

and

Newcastle disease Virulent Newcastle disease (VND), formerly exotic Newcastle disease, is a contagious viral avian disease affecting many domestic and wild bird species; it is transmissible to humans. Though it can infect humans, most cases are non-symptomatic; ...

. These powers were extended by a

statutory instrument In many countries, a statutory instrument is a form of delegated legislation. United Kingdom Statutory instruments are the principal form of delegated or secondary legislation in the United Kingdom. National government Statutory instrument ...

. It was amended by the Animal Health and Welfare Act 1984. It was amended in 2002 to provide more powers to deal with

foot and mouth disease Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) or hoof-and-mouth disease (HMD) is an infectious and sometimes fatal viral disease that affects cloven-hoofed animals, including domestic and wild bovids. The virus causes a high fever lasting two to six days, followe ...

, a problem that in 2001 bedevilled herds during the Blair ministry. The Act provides for: This article contains quotations from this source, which is available under th
Open Government Licence v1.0
© Crown copyright. * slaughter of

disease A disease is a particular abnormal condition that negatively affects the structure or function of all or part of an organism, and that is not immediately due to any external injury. Diseases are often known to be medical conditions that a ...

d poultry, poultry suspected of disease, poultry exposed to disease and poultry which the government thinks should be slaughtered to prevent the spread of disease *payment of compensation for birds that are slaughtered but are not diseased. *publication of a slaughter protocol prior to exercising the power to impose a preventive or firebreak cull. Emergency vaccination would have to be considered prior to any cull, and, if not used, the reasons would have to be published. *powers for veterinary inspectors to enter premises to ascertain whether disease anti-bodies exist, whether any animal is or was infected with disease and whether any causative agent of disease is present *publication of biosecurity guidance *preparation and review of a national contingency plan

References

United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1981 History of agriculture in the United Kingdom Agricultural health and safety Food law Disease outbreaks in the United Kingdom Poultry diseases Animal viral diseases Animal virology Bird diseases Avian influenza {{UK-law-stub