Submit farm animals for a post-mortem examination
How vets in England and Wales can submit carcases to APHA for a post-mortem examination.
Applies to England and Wales
Vets can submit farm animals to the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) for a post-mortem examination.
Farm animals include:
- cattle
- pigs
- sheep and goats
- poultry and gamebirds
- other farmed mammals including rabbits, deer, alpacas and llamas
You must immediately report any suspected cases of notifiable diseases in animals.
APHA offers a subsidised rate for diagnostic tests on farm animals in England and Wales as part of its disease surveillance activities. If you need a post-mortem examination on other animals you can book this through our commercial site: APHA Scientific.
If you own an animal and want a post-mortem examination carried out you will need to discuss this with a private veterinary surgeon.
Contact the nearest surveillance pathology centre
You must call the nearest surveillance pathology centre to the farm to discuss the case before you submit a carcase.
Our network is made up of:
- APHA Veterinary Investigation Centres (VICs)
- surveillance pathology partners, independent institutions which also do post-mortem examinations on behalf of APHA
If you need the findings urgently, you should tell the surveillance pathology centre before the carcase is submitted.
Submitting a carcase
APHA offers free carcase collection in many areas of England and Wales, where the location of the farm is outside the immediate catchment area of the surveillance pathology centre.
Find the nearest surveillance pathology centre to the farm to find out if a carcase is eligible for free collection
If the carcase is not in a free collection area, then transportation to the nearest centre needs to be arranged and paid for separately.
If you want to carry out independent testing outside APHA, you should take the samples needed for this purpose before submitting a carcase.
Acceptance criteria for carcases
You must discuss the case with your nearest surveillance pathology centre before submitting a carcase. There may be case-specific information which will affect its acceptance, including the maximum number of carcases that can be accepted.
Carcases are less likely to be accepted for post-mortem examination if the animal:
- has been dead for more than 48 hours
- has been frozen
Submitting live animals
APHA only accepts live animals if it is essential for a diagnosis of certain diseases. For example, in the investigation of some enteric and nervous diseases.
Acceptance decisions will be made on a case-by-case basis and according to the handling facilities that are available at the centre.
The transport of live animals must be arranged by the owner. The veterinary surgeon submitting them must agree to their transport and ensure supervision and compliance with welfare regulations for the journey.
Any transport of live animals must follow the regulations for the welfare of animals during transport.
Submission forms
Carcases must be accompanied with a completed submission form. Your results may be delayed if you do not provide all the required information.
Use the correct form for the species you are testing:
- cattle
- pigs
- sheep and goats
- poultry and gamebirds
- other farmed mammals, for example, rabbits, deer, alpacas and llamas
Fees and test codes
Farm vets in England and Wales are offered a subsidised service as part of APHA’s disease surveillance activities.
Search for the fees and codes for each test on the APHA surveillance price list.
Making a payment
You enter into a contract with APHA when it receives the carcase and submission form.
An invoice will be sent to you with instructions on how to set up an account to make payment. You must pay within 28 days of the date of invoice. APHA reserves the right to withhold services for accounts in arrears.
For more information see our general terms and conditions.
Receiving the results
Post-mortem examinations are usually completed the day that the carcase is delivered, provided the carcase is received at the centre before midday.
Important or urgent findings are usually given over the phone as soon as possible after completion of the post-mortem examination.
In most cases, a written report will be emailed within 2 working days of receipt of the carcase. The report will include the results of the examination including the results of any tests that were carried out.
You can ask for the report to be sent by post. Reports sent by special delivery will result in extra charges and you will need to ask the centre for this service. You can also ask that results are sent to someone other than yourself.
Positive results for individual tests will be returned as soon as possible.
Get expert advice
Contact your nearest surveillance pathology centre to discuss:
- a clinical case
- results from a post-mortem examination
- your own onsite post-mortem examinations and appropriate testing for the samples you have collected
You can also contact the Veterinary Investigation Officer at your nearest Veterinary Investigation Centre to get free advice or to report an unusual disease occurrence.
How APHA uses data for disease surveillance
Your data will be used as part of the disease surveillance carried out by APHA.
APHA uses this data to monitor the emergence of new diseases and changes in the pattern of existing ones, so that appropriate intervention to control disease can be made.
You need to fully complete the correct APHA submission form so that this surveillance data can be collected.
Samples may be used anonymously for further disease surveillance or research work. If you do not want your data to be used in this way, write this on the submission form or contact the Veterinary Investigation Centre.
Find out more about animal disease surveillance at APHA.