Institute for Animal Health

The Institute for Animal Health (IAH) is a world-leading centre of excellence for research into diseases of farm animals. It is an institute of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC). You will find a thumbnail sketch of the Institute - our raison d'être, unique contributions to the UK's fight for animal health, global influence, location, financial support and governance - here. A video of some of the Institute's work can be seen on the BBSRC's website here.

Our experts are frequently consulted by journalists on matters relating to viral threats to UK poultry and livestock. The threats include infectious bronchitis, Marek's disease and avian influenza in avian species, and bluetongue, foot-and-mouth disease, African horse sickness, African swine fever, swine vesicular disease, and peste des petits ruminants in mammalian livestock. The IAH provides Reference Laboratory (diagnostic) services for most of these diseases to Defra and one or more of the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation and the European Food Standards Authority.

In addition to contributing to many articles in newspapers and magazines, our scientists have been recorded/filmed on both of our campuses for radio, TV and web items e.g.:

• Radio Four's Farming Today and BBC TV's Countryfile about bluetongue
• BBC Horizon on the evolution of Marek's disease virus to greater virulence
• BBC World Service on the eradication of cattle plague (rinderpest)
• BBC News website on E.coli O157, and midge catching
• Japanese NHK TV on foot-and-mouth disease

Press Office:

Nancy Mendoza, Head of Communications
Institute for Animal Health,
Pirbright Laboratory, Ash Road, Pirbright, Surrey, GU24 0NF, UK

Click here for our latest News items, and here for the News Archive.