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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the level of risk of incursion of African Swine Fever to the UK.

Whilst we have never had an outbreak of African Swine Fever (ASF) in the UK, it remains a key priority in terms of exotic notifiable disease preparedness. The overall risk of an incursion is currently assessed to be medium, and we continue to prepare for a possible outbreak.

To safeguard the UK’s pork and pig industries, Defra, Devolved Governments, together with the pig industry and veterinary bodies have been working together to raise awareness of the risks of the introduction of ASF to the UK.

Under the new Government, Defra has already announced further safety controls in September 2024, restricting the movement of pork and pork products into Great Britain.

Updated risk assessments are on Gov.UK

African swine fever: how to spot and report the disease - GOV.UK.