British Veterinary Association

Kaz Graham there with the Sowerby family.

The new president of the British Veterinary Association is calling for improved resilience against disease outbreaks, as the UK battles a huge outbreak of the livestock disease, blue tongue.

This disease is spread by midges.

It doesn't affect people, but can kill livestock like sheep and cows.

And that report was from Vernon Harwood.

The new president of the British Veterinary Association is calling for improved resilience against potential livestock epidemics.

As the UK battles a huge outbreak of blue tongue, which affects sheep, cattle and goats, and there are warnings of a new pig disease in the Netherlands and Denmark, Dr Gwen Rees says that as a profession, vets need to make sure they are ready to act.

It comes following National Audit Office reports warning that DEFRA's animal disease response plans leave the UK's food security vulnerable to major supply disruptions.

just trying to pull together that expertise across all the different species and specialisms to see where the gaps were, how we might approach this challenge, what we would do if this did happen and what we need to put in place to be more prepared.

Dr Gwen

Rees from the British Veterinary Association.

And that's all from us for today.

I'm Suzanne Jarvis, editor-in-chief of Vet Record.

In this episode of the Vet Record podcast, I talk with David Black, current president of BCVA and our director of Paragon Vets, VetSalis and VetSustain, and Anna Judson, past president of BVA and a small animal practitioner.

We talk about how climate change is having an impact on disease risk and what the vet profession in the UK can do about it.

This episode was recorded in August 2026.

And a part of adaptation is about having resilient, healthy animals that can still provide food in a changing environment.

Yeah, absolutely.

And I mean, Anna, I know you're sort of coming at it from the sort of BVA and the bigger picture, but on the small animal side, what would you say is looking like the challenges at the moment? I absolutely agree

with what David has said.