Sniffer dogs at border points help detect African Swine Fever in imported meat

Lord Gardiner said: “While there has never been an outbreak of ASF in the UK, we are not complacent and already have robust measures in place to protect against animal disease outbreaks.”

In July, Defra launched a UK-wide campaign to reiterate the importance of keeping meat products out of the UK, including writing to universities to ask students not to bring any meat products when they come over to study.

Pig keepers have also been reminded that it is illegal to feed catering waste, kitchen scraps or pork products to their animals.

Anyone travelling back from ASF-affected areas who will be coming into contact with domestic pigs, commercial holdings or smallholdings, has been asked to pay extra attention to the spread of disease via contaminated clothing, footwear or equipment, and pork products.