The Diseases of Swine Regulations 2014

PART 3 Infected premises

Designating premises as infected premises when the presence of disease is confirmed

10.—(1) Where the Chief Veterinary Officer is satisfied as a result of any—

(a) tests carried out under these Regulations,

(b) clinical signs in any pig or carcase, or

(c) epidemiological connections,

that disease is or has been present on premises, an inspector must serve a notice on the occupier designating them to be infected premises.

(2) Where such a notice is served on the occupier Schedule 1 applies, together with any additional measures that a veterinary inspector considers necessary in order to reduce the risk of the spread of disease.

(3) This regulation does not apply where disease is confirmed in a slaughterhouse or in feral pigs.

Killing pigs on infected premises

11.  When premises are designated as infected premises the appropriate authority must arrange for the killing of all pigs on the premises unless regulation 12 applies.

Conservation and related measures

12.—(1) After consulting with the European Commission the appropriate authority may decide not to kill a pig—

(a) kept in a zoo or wildlife park; or

(b) kept for—

(i) educational purposes;

(ii) scientific research or breeding for such research; or

(iii) purposes related to conservation of species or genetic resource.

(2) Where the appropriate authority decides under paragraph (1) not to kill a pig, a veterinary inspector must serve a notice on the occupier of the premises on which it is kept detailing the biosecurity arrangements that the occupier must follow to reduce the risk of the spread of disease.

(3) The appropriate authority may for disease control reasons at any time decide to order the killing of a pig that has previously been spared under paragraph (1).

Disposal of carcases and preliminary cleansing and disinfection

13.—(1) Where a pig is killed under these Regulations other than in accordance with regulation 19(4), the appropriate authority must arrange for the disposal of the carcase.

(2) The appropriate authority may arrange for the disposal of the carcase of any pig that has died, or is suspected to have died, from disease.

(3) The appropriate authority must ensure that any such disposal is carried out in such a way as to avoid the risk of the spread of disease.

(4) Following such disposal the appropriate authority must without delay carry out preliminary cleansing and disinfection of—

(a) all parts of the premises (other than fields, slurry lagoons and other parts of the premises where the disinfectant would have no effect) and all equipment or other things to which the pig has had access; and

(b) anything contaminated during the killing of the pig.

Notice requiring secondary cleansing and disinfection

14.—(1) Irrespective of whether or not pigs are to be reintroduced on infected or contact premises, an inspector may serve a notice on the occupier requiring secondary cleansing and disinfection as specified in the notice.

(2) Secondary cleansing and disinfection must be carried out in such a way as to minimise the risk of the spread of disease or survival of any virus.

(3) If the occupier does not comply with the notice, an inspector may arrange for secondary cleansing and disinfection to be carried out by another person at the expense of the occupier.

(4) Following completion of the secondary cleansing and disinfection, a veterinary inspector must certify in writing when satisfied that the requirements of the notice have been completed.

Use of approved disinfectants

15.  Where disinfection is carried out under these Regulations the disinfectants must be—

(a) approved by the appropriate authority under the Diseases of Animals (Approved Disinfectants) (England) Order 2007(1), the Diseases of Animals (Approved Disinfectants) (Scotland) Order 2008(2)or the Diseases of Animals (Approved Disinfectants) (Wales) Order 2007(3), and shown on the list of approved disinfectants published under the appropriate Order as being approved—

(i) specifically as being effective against the spread of swine vesicular disease where that disease has been identified; or

(ii) for effectiveness against the spread of disease other than swine vesicular disease; and

(b) used at the authorised dilution rate and in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions.

Special measures to prevent the spread of African swine fever virus by vectors

16.—(1) Where the presence of vectors is suspected on premises where African swine fever has been confirmed, any building that has housed pigs (and the surrounding environment) must be checked by an inspector for the presence of vectors and, if deemed necessary, a veterinary inspector (or any person acting under the direction of a veterinary inspector) may—

(a) arrange for the obtaining of specimens of the vectors and proportionate further monitoring; and

(b) require the occupier to implement practical vector control measures.

(2) Where such specimens are obtained the appropriate authority must arrange for appropriate laboratory tests to be carried out on them to confirm or negate the presence of the African swine fever virus in the vectors.

Revocation of a regulation 10 notice

17.—(1) Unless otherwise provided for in this regulation, a notice under regulation 10 (designation of an infected premises) must not be revoked until a veterinary inspector is satisfied that sufficient time has elapsed for the virus of disease to have decayed naturally to the extent that the virus will no longer pose a risk of infecting a pig with disease.

(2) A veterinary inspector, or an inspector acting under the direction of a veterinary inspector, may revoke such a notice of designation in relation to the whole or a part of the infected premises if—

(a) any required cleansing and disinfection has been certified as satisfactorily completed in accordance with regulation 14(4); and

(b) the premises have been tested for the existence of disease using sentinel pigs with negative results in accordance with regulation 18.

(3) In the case of African swine fever (where the occurrence of disease has not been linked to vectors) or in the case of classical swine fever, as a derogation from the testing in accordance with paragraph (2)(b), such a notice may be revoked by a veterinary inspector if—

(a) more than six months has elapsed from the completion of the cleansing and disinfection; and

(b) the veterinary inspector is of the opinion that there is no further risk of the spread of disease.

(4) In the case of African swine fever, where occurrence of disease has been linked to vectors, such a notice must not be revoked until—

(a) all sentinel restocking in accordance with regulation 18 has been carried out without evidence of disease; and

(b) a further 60 days has elapsed since full restocking.

(5) Where such a notice is revoked, the measures in Schedule 1 (together with any additional measure imposed) cease to apply upon revocation of that notice.

Restocking and testing with sentinel pigs on infected or contact premises

18.—(1) On infected premises or contact premises once a veterinary inspector has certified in accordance with regulation 14(4) that secondary cleansing and disinfection have been satisfactorily completed, sentinel pigs may be introduced (at the expense of the occupier) for monitoring for the resurgence of disease in accordance with this regulation as a precursor to full restocking of the premises with pigs.

(2) Other than in the situation in paragraph (7), the number of sentinel pigs introduced by the occupier must be such restricted number as is deemed to be sufficient by a veterinary inspector to test for the continuing presence of disease on all parts of the premises where disease was formerly present.

(3) The sentinel pigs may only be introduced in accordance with a licence granted by a veterinary inspector, and not before the following prescribed number of days, equivalent to the incubation period for the virus, after the secondary cleansing and disinfection has been certified as being satisfactorily completed in accordance with regulation 14(4)—

(a) 40 days in the case of African swine fever;

(b) 30 days in the case of classical swine fever; and

(c) 28 days in the case of swine vesicular disease.

(4) The sentinel pigs must have—

(a) come from premises not subject to any controls or restrictions under these Regulations; or

(b) been tested at the expense of the occupier before being brought on to the premises and found to be negative for the presence of antibodies against disease.

(5) After the time limits set down in the following table a veterinary inspector must clinically examine all sentinel pigs on the premises and take a statistically valid number of samples deemed necessary for the serological testing for the presence of antibodies to the disease—

	African swine fever (where disease has not been linked to vectors)	Classical swine fever	Swine vesicular disease
Number of days after the arrival of the last sentinel pig onto the premises	45	40	28

(6) A person must not allow a sentinel pig to leave premises until negative results of the serological tests taken in accordance with paragraph (5) are obtained by the veterinary inspector.

(7) For premises that only have pigs entirely enclosed in buildings, as an alternative to the veterinary inspector restricting the number of sentinel pigs in accordance with paragraph (2), the veterinary inspector may license the introduction of an unlimited number of sentinel pigs into enclosed buildings on the premises, but in such circumstances—

(a) paragraphs (3), (4), (5) and (6) apply in relation to the introduction of the unlimited number of sentinel pigs;

(b) the conditions in the following table apply—

	African swine fever (where disease has not been linked to vectors)	Classical swine fever	Swine vesicular disease
All the sentinel pigs must arrive on the premises within the following periods from the date of arrival of the first sentinel pig	20 days	20 days	8 days

; and

(c) in the case of swine vesicular disease, a person must not allow a pig to leave the premises until at least 60 days after the arrival of the last sentinel pig.

(8) In the case of African swine fever where the disease has been linked to spread by vectors, restocking with sentinel pigs cannot take place for a period of six years.

(9) The period of six years may be reduced where a veterinary inspector has supervised vector eradication measures on infected premises and is satisfied that—

(a) the vector eradication measures have been successfully carried out under the supervision of a veterinary inspector; or

(b) the persistence of the vector no longer presents a significant risk of transmitting African swine fever.

(10) Where restocking has taken place in accordance with paragraphs (8) or (9), a person must not allow a pig to leave the premises after full repopulation until serological examinations with negative results for African swine fever have been taken at least 60 days after full repopulation in accordance with the Diagnostic Manual.

(1)

S.I. 2007/448, amended by S.I. 2011/1509; there are other amending instruments but none are relevant.

(2)

S.S.I. 2008/219, to which there are amendments not relevant to these Regulations.

(3)

S.I. 2007/2803 (W.236), to which there are amendments not relevant to these Regulations.