In the guide
In this guide, the words 'must' or 'must not' are used where there is a legal requirement to do (or not do) something. The word 'should' is used where there is established legal guidance or best practice that is likely to help you avoid breaking the law.
This guidance is for England, Scotland and Wales
Certain animal diseases are 'notifiable', which means that you are legally required to report cases (including suspected cases) to the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA).
If you find or suspect any of the diseases listed in this guide, you must contact APHA immediately. The contact numbers are:
- 0300 020 0301 (England)
- 0300 060 0704 (Scotland)
- 0300 303 8268 (Wales)
Lists of notifiable diseases
The following lists are not comprehensive; they only include diseases for which one or more of the governments of Great Britain have produced guidance.
Diseases notifiable in Great Britain
- African horse sickness
- African swine fever
- Anthrax
- Aujeszky's disease
- Avian influenza (bird flu)
- Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal)
- Bluetongue
- Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE)
- Bovine tuberculosis (bTB)
- Brucellosis
- Chronic wasting disease
- Classical swine fever
- Contagious agalactia
- Contagious bovine pleuropneumonia
- Contagious caprine pleuropneumonia
- Contagious epididymitis
- Contagious equine metritis
- Dourine
- Echinococcus multilocularis
- Enzootic bovine leukosis
- Epizootic haemorrhagic disease
- Epizootic lymphangitis
- Equine infectious anaemia (swamp fever)
- Equine viral arteritis
- Equine viral encephalomyelitis
- Foot-and-mouth disease
- Farcy
- Glanders
- Goat plague (peste des petits ruminants)
- Goat pox
- Lumpy skin disease
- Newcastle disease
- Paramyxovirus infection
- Rabies
- Rift Valley fever
- Rinderpest
- Scrapie
- Sheep pox
- Surra
- Swine vesicular disease
- Teschen disease
- Vesicular stomatitis
- West Nile fever (aka West Nile encephalitis)
Diseases notifiable in England and Scotland
- Porcine epidemic diarrhoea
Diseases notifiable in Scotland
- Ebola virus
- Foulbrood
- Sheep scab
- Warble fly
Further information
A number of notifiable diseases are featured in individual guides:
- Avian influenza (bird flu)
- African horse sickness
- African swine fever
- Bluetongue
- BSE testing of cattle
- Bovine tuberculosis
- Classical swine fever
- Foot-and-mouth disease
- Rabies
- Sheep scab
Guidance on notifiable diseases is also available on the three GB government websites:
- Notifiable diseases (GOV.UK)
- Notifiable diseases (Scottish Government)
- Notifiable diseases (Welsh Government)
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) runs The Farming Blog. A lot of the information will be for England only, but it may still be of interest to those in Scotland or Wales.
Back to topTrading Standards
For more information on the work of Trading Standards services and the possible consequences of not abiding by the law, please see 'Trading Standards: powers, enforcement and penalties'.
Back to topIn this update
New guidance: June 2026
Back to topKey legislation
- There is no key legislation for this guide
Please note
This information is intended for guidance; only the courts can give an authoritative interpretation of the law.
The guide's 'Key legislation' links go to the legislation.gov.uk website. The site usually updates the legislation to include any amendments made to it. However, this is not always the case. Information on all changes made to legislation can be found by following the above links and clicking on the 'More Resources' tab.