
1 
This Order may be cited as the Specified Animal Pathogens Order 1998 and shall come into force on 1st April 1998.
2 
For the purposes of the Animal Health Act 1981 in relation to this Order—
(a) the definition of “animal” is hereby extended so as to comprise any kind of mammal except man, and any kind of four-footed beast which is not a mammal;
(b) the definition of “poultry” is hereby extended so as to comprise any species of bird;
(c) the definition of “disease” is hereby extended so as to comprise any disease of animals and poultry which may be caused by one or more specified animal pathogens.
3 

(1) In this Order, unless the context otherwise requires—
 “animal” includes poultry;
 “carrier” means any living creature except man which may carry or transmit a specified animal pathogen or the tissue, cell culture, body fluid, excreta, carcase or part of a carcase of such creature by or by means of which a specified animal pathogen may be transmitted;
 “specified animal pathogen” means an animal pathogen listed in the Schedule to this Order, including—
(a) intact pathogens;
(b) pathogens which have been attenuated or genetically modified by any means, and
(c) any nucleic acid derived from an animal pathogen listed in the Schedule which could produce that pathogen when introduced into a biological system in which the nucleic acid is capable of replicating.
(2) A licence or notice issued under this Order shall be in writing, may be subject to conditions and may be modified, suspended or revoked by notice in writing served on the licensee or recipient of the original notice at any time.
4 

(1) Subject to article 5 below, no person shall have in his possession any specified animal pathogen in Part I of the Schedule to this Order, or any carrier in which he knows such a pathogen is present, except under the authority of a licence issued by the appropriate Minister.
(2) Subject to article 5 below, no person shall deliberately introduce into any animal any specified animal pathogen in the Schedule to this Order except under the authority of a licence issued by the appropriate Minister.
(3) If any person has in his possession any thing in which he has reasonable grounds for suspecting that a specified animal pathogen in Part I of the Schedule to this Order is present, and does not have a licence in respect of that pathogen he shall forthwith notify a veterinary inspector.
5 

(1) Article 4 above shall not apply to any person who is transporting a pathogen or carrier and who does not own or have any rights in that pathogen or carrier.
(2) Article 4 above shall not apply in relation to any pathogen or carrier contained in a product—
(a) permitted to be placed on the market under the Marketing Authorisations for Veterinary Medicinal Products Regulations 1994 or the Medicines for Human Use (Marketing Authorisations Etc.) Regulations 1994;
(b) licensed in accordance with the provisions of section 7(2) of the Medicines Act 1968; or
(c) in respect of which an animal test certificate has been issued in accordance with the provisions of section 32 of that Act.
6 

(1) Where an inspector has reasonable grounds for suspecting that a specified animal pathogen or a carrier is in the possession of a person who does not hold a licence permitting work with that pathogen in contravention of this Order or in contravention of a condition of a licence granted under this Order he may at any time seize, or cause to be seized, such pathogen, carrier or any material in which he reasonably suspects such pathogen to have been kept or into which he reasonably suspects it to have been introduced.
(2) A veterinary inspector may, if he considers it expedient to do so for the purpose of preventing the introduction or spreading of disease into or within Great Britain, detain, treat or destroy any pathogen, carrier or material seized under paragraph (1) above.
(3) A veterinary inspector may, by notice in writing served upon the occupier of any premises (including a dwelling house), or upon the owner or person in charge of any vehicle by which any specified pathogen, carrier or material is or has been present in contravention of this Order or of a licence issued under it, require the person on whom the notice was served to cleanse and disinfect such premises, place or vehicle in such manner as he may by such notice specify at the expense of the person on whom the notice is served.
(4) Where the requirements of a notice served under paragraph (3) above have not been complied with, a veterinary inspector may carry out or cause to be carried out the cleansing and disinfection specified in the notice at the expense of the person on whom the notice has been served.
7 
Any person acting under the authority of a licence shall produce it on demand to a veterinary inspector, officer of the appropriate Minister or an inspector of the local authority and allow a copy of it to be taken and shall, if required by that person, furnish his name and address.
8 
This Order shall be enforced by the local authority.
9 

(1) The Specified Animal Pathogens Order 1993 is revoked.
(2) Any notice or licence issued under the Specified Animal Pathogens Order 1993 shall continue to have effect as if made under the equivalent provision of this Order.
Jeff Rooker
Minister of State, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
17th February 1998Sewel
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Scottish Office
19th February 1998Signed by authority of the Secretary of State for Wales
Win Griffiths
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Welsh Office
27th February 1998
SCHEDULE
Articles 3 and 4
PART I

 African horse sickness virus
 African swine fever virus
 Aujeszky’s disease virus
 Avian influenza viruses which are:
(a) uncharacterised; or
(b) Type A viruses which have an intravenous pathogenicity index in six week old chickens of greater than 1.2; or
(c) Type A viruses H5 or H7 subtype for which nucleotide sequencing has demonstrated multiple basic amino acids at the cleavage site of haemagglutinin
 Babesia bovis, B. bigemina, B. caballi and B. equi
 Bacillus anthracis
 Bluetongue virus
 Bovine leukosis virus
 Brucella abortus
 Brucella melitensis
 Brucella ovis
 Brucella suis
 Burkholdaria (Pseudomonas) mallei
 Classical swine fever virus
 Cochliomyia hominivorax
 Cowdria ruminatum
 Eastern and Western equine encephalomyelitis viruses
 Echinococcus multilocularis and E. granulosis
 Equine infectious anaemia virus
 Equine morbillivirus
 Foot and mouth disease virus
 Histoplasma farciminosum
 Japanese encephalitis virus
 Lumpy skin disease virus
 Mycoplasma agalactiae
 Mycoplasma capricolum sub species capripneumoniae
 Mycoplasma mycoides sub species mycoides SC and mycoides LC variants
 Mycoplasma mycoides var capri
 Newcastle disease (avian paramyxovirus type 1) viruses which are—
(a) uncharacterised; or
(b) have an intracerebral pathogenicity index in one-day-old chicks of 0.4 or more, when not less than 10 million 50% egg infectious doses (EID50) are administered to each bird in the test
 Peste de petits ruminants virus
 Rabies virus and all viruses of the genus Lyssavirus
 Rift Valley Fever virus
 Rinderpest virus
 Sheep and goat pox virus
 Swine vesicular disease
 Teschen disease virus
 Theileria annulata
 Theileria parva
 Trichinella spiralis
 Trypanosoma brucei, T. congolense, T. equiperdum, T. evansi, T. simiae and T. vivax
 Venezuelan equine encephalomyelitis virus
 Vesicular stomatitis virus

PART II

 The live virus causing viral haemorrhagic disease of rabbits
