The government announced a £200 million investment into Weybridge, the the UK’s primary research and laboratory testing facility, yesterday (November 9), in a bid to upgrade the country’s level of protection against animal-borne diseases.

The Animal Plant Health Agency’s (APHA) laboratories at Weybridge serves as a world-renowned centre of excellence in animal and plant diseases, providing ‘end to end’ capability from research to outbreak response. 

According to the government, the threat from zoonotic diseases is increasing globally, with nearly two-thirds of infectious diseases in humans originating in animals such as avian Influenza and bovine tuberculosis. 

Much of the diseases carried by animals pose a significant threat to public health, the food and farming sector, the wider economy, and the environment, therefore, managing the increasing prolificacy of these threats, continues to be of critical national importance to the UK government.

Weybridge

Weybridge is responsible for ensuring the threat levels posed by such diseases remain as minimal as possible, and the funding will be used to replace and upgrade its biosecurity facilities, ensuring increased capacity to prevent, detect and respond to disease outbreaks.

The new £200 million funding injection into Weybridge’s infrastructure, will help the government deliver on its new ‘Plan for Change’ initiative, designed to help safeguard profits for farmers and other food producers.

Weybridge also safegaurds Britains’s agricultural exports, including livestock, meat and meat products, dairy and animal by-products, which the government have valued at £16 billion per year to the UK economy. 

This new science hub will provide additional capabilities to meet both current and future requirements, while enhancing the country’s ability to handle concurrent major disease outbreaks. 

According to a statement from the government, the laboratories were reportedly found to be “in poor condition” with their “long-term future in doubt”, when Labour took power, which officials have said, posed as a significant risk to both British agriculture and human health in general. 

The export of livestock, meat and meat products, dairy and animal by-products is worth £16 billion per year to the UK economy. These exports are safeguarded by the services that APHA provides.  

Environment secretary, Steve Reed said: “Animal disease represents a significant risk to Britain’s farmers, global trade and human health.   

“We inherited laboratories at Weybridge in poor condition, reducing our ability to respond to animal disease outbreaks. 

“Recognising the importance of protecting our farming and food sector in order to deliver growth across the UK, we are bolstering our national biosecurity and safeguarding the county from these diseases with a £200 million investment into our scientific capabilities.”

APHA’s vital work includes leading the current operational response to the impacts of Avian Influenza and Bluetongue virus (BTV-3) which has been affecting farmers across the country. This includes testing thousands of samples which requires significant laboratory capacity.   

The risk to national biosecurity will continue to rise in the years ahead due to changing climate patterns which will ensure new pathways for pests, pathogens and invasive species, the government asserted.

Animal Plant Health Agency chief executive, Jenny Stewart, said: “APHA is at the forefront of tackling animal and plant disease outbreaks, with our experts working around the clock to manage threats to the UK’s biosecurity. 

“This funding is hugely welcomed to support crucial upgrades that will allow us to continue delivering the disease surveillance, detection and research work which protects against new and existing threats. 

“The work we do is world-leading, and this funding affirms the government’s commitment to protecting animal and plant health and will help us protect the economy from disease risk.”