APHA puts contingency plans in place to manage services
30th Mar 2020 / By Alistair Driver
APHA is continuing to provide a diagnostic service for livestock, despite the restrictions put in place due to COVID-19.
The agency said it was 'taking all reasonable preventative measures' in view of the current situation and has contingency plans in place to manage services across the surveillance network during the outbreak.
It is currently continuing to provide a diagnostic service for livestock through carcases submitted for post mortem examination and from samples submitted by post for diagnostic testing.
Anyone that requires the service should continue to contact your local site as directed by the postcode finder: http://apha.defra.gov.uk/
"The contingency plans enable continued provision of post mortem services across our network of VICs and partner providers," APHA said.
In the event of a post mortem site (either APHA Veterinary Investigation Centre or one of our partner provider sites) being unable to receive carcase material due to staff being unavailable, APHA is planning to make arrangements to transport carcases to an alternative site using the free carcase collection service.
Any alternative site would be selected based on logistics, available resource and following consultation with all concerned.
"Although all effort will be made to assist in some cases there may be situations where this may not be possible and is all dependant on the rapidly changing situation," the agency added.
APHA is requesting that any concerns are reported in the first instance to the SIU mailbox
Relevant staff will then be consulted and a response given ASAP.