By Kerry Maxwell, communications manager, British Poultry Council
Last month, the joint Government-Industry Vaccination Taskforce published its report on the role of vaccination in managing highly pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI).
We all know how big a threat HPAI is: to animal health, to business continuity, to food security. It’s a global concern and no longer a rare, contained event. Managing risk means moving beyond simple prevention to a more nuanced approach: one that accepts AI as an ongoing reality and seeks adaptable solutions.
BPC have played an active role in the development of its report, plus the global dialogue around vaccination, so we welcome its publication. It takes a crucial step forward in building the knowledge base needed to assess vaccination as part of the broader toolbox for managing AI. While not a silver bullet, it could help both Government and industry anticipate, prepare for, and mitigate future outbreaks.
The report, two years in the making, outlines key recommendations, including an on-farm vaccination trial in turkeys and exploring lab capacity for surveillance. These are important building blocks. But significant questions around trade and long-term effectiveness remain. These need to be addressed to ensure vaccination delivers real benefits for our sector.
Learning to live with AI, therefore safeguarding UK food security, requires sustained investment in veterinary expertise, lab capacity, surveillance infrastructure, and practical support for producers. All of this has a cost – financial, operational, or political will. Any move towards vaccination must be embedded in that wider ecosystem to be truly effective and sustainable.
And then there’s trade. Our current international trade framework was built for a different world; one where AI outbreaks were rare. Today’s disease reality exposes the limits of current rules, suggesting they may be in urgent need of review. It reads like a false choice: prioritise animal health or trade. No one wants that.
I think we need a global reset that reflects the complexity of learning to live with AI, where animal health and trade are factors that work together and are not in opposition. Without that shift, producers will remain in an untenable position, bearing the brunt of disease risk while navigating outdated rules not designed for the world we now live in.