Animal disease outbreaks can have devastating consequences for animal health, the food supply, the economy and society as a whole. Defra fully supports EU Veterinary Week, and will be using it to highlight its existing programme of work on animal disease prevention with the UK veterinary profession, farmers and travellers.

Defra’s programme includes the Give Disease the Boot campaign, which focuses on disease prevention for the farming community. The campaign provides livestock owners and veterinarians with information on a range of diseases and advice on how best to protect the health of their animals and the health of the farming industry.

Defra also runs the Don’t Bring Me Back campaign, together with Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs and the Food Standards Agency, highlighting the risks travellers face if they bring illegal food products into the UK.

Other Defra campaigns on disease prevention at the moment include a livestock markets roadshow which visits 80 markets every autumn and spring, and the Government Veterinary Surgeons programme, which aims to raise the awareness of the veterinary profession in supporting key government initiatives and fulfilling their statutory roles.