Animal and Plant Health Agency
Access to Information Team
Woodham Lane
www.gov.uk/apha
New Haw
Addlestone
Surrey
KT15 3NB
John Eddy
Our ref: FOI2024/08419
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx
3 May 2024
Dear John Eddy,
REQUEST FOR INFORMATION: Brucella canis testing Thank you for your request for information of 16th April about Brucella canis testing.
APHA have handled your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA).
Your information request and our response are set out below.
* From 15.07.2023 - 31.12.2023 (inclusive)
* From 01.01.2024 - 15.04.2024 (inclusive)
1. How many incidents of laboratory error (e.g., faulty reagent, manual data error,
etc) have been identified by the APHA laboratories since 15.07.2023?
2023 – 1
2024 - 1
2. What was the cause of each of the incidents (e.g., manual data entry error,
faulty reagent, etc).
2023 – retest error
2024 – Reagent failed fit for purpose testing
3. Of these, how many (case + sum of individual dog(s)) involved the:
3.1. iELISA
2
3.2. SAT
0
3.3. RSA
0
3.4. Other
0
4. For each incident, how many individual dogs were affected?
0
5. In each case, how many of the dogs were falsely identified as positive on a test
when they were actually negative?
0
APHA is an Executive Agency of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and also works on behalf of the Scottish
Government, Welsh Government and Food Standards Agency to safeguard animal and plant health for the benefit of people, the
environment and the economy.
6. In each case, how many of the dogs were falsely identified as negative on a test
when they were actually positive?
0
7. How many dogs are you aware of that have died as a consequence of these
erors?
0
8. What is your known error rate per test (known individual dog errors divided by
total number of tests undertaken of that type)? Splitting down the data by the fol-
lowing tests: RSA, SAT, iELISA, Other, please answer this based on:
8.1. 2023
0
8.2. 2024 (up until 15.04.2024)” 0
Information disclosed in response to this FOI request is releasable to the public. In
keeping with the spirit and effect of the FOIA and the government’s Transparency
Agenda, this letter and the information disclosed to you may be placed on GOV.UK,
together with any related information that wil provide a key to its wider context. No
information identifying you wil be placed on the GOV.UK website.
An Annex is attached which explains the copyright that applies to the information being
released to you and contact details should you be unhappy with the service you have
received.
If you have any queries about this letter, please contact the Access to Information Team
at the email address below or postal address at the top of this letter.
Yours sincerely
Access to Information Team
xxxxxxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx
APHA is an Executive Agency of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and also works on behalf of the Scottish
Government, Welsh Government and Food Standards Agency to safeguard animal and plant health for the benefit of people, the
environment and the economy
Annex
Copyright
The information supplied to you continues to be protected by copyright. You are free to
use it for your own purposes, including for private study and non-commercial research,
and for any other purpose authorised by an exception in current copyright law.
Documents (except photographs or logos) can also be used in the UK without requiring
permission for the purposes of news reporting. Any other re-use, for example
commercial publication, would require the permission of the copyright holder.
Most documents produced by APHA wil be protected by Crown Copyright. Most Crown
copyright information can be re-used under the Open Government Licence. For
information about the OGL and about re-using Crown Copyright information please see
The National Archives website.
Copyright in other documents may rest with a third party. For information about
obtaining permission from a third party see the Intellectual Property Office’s website.
Complaints
If you are unhappy with the service you have received in relation to your request, you
may make a complaint or appeal against our decision under section 17(7) of the FOIA
within 40 working days of the date of this letter. Please write to the Access to
Information Team at the address at the top of this letter or email
xxxxxxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx and the team wil arrange for an internal review of your case.
If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, section 50 of the FOIA
gives you the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) for a
decision. Please note that generally the ICO cannot make a decision unless you have
first exhausted APHA’s own complaints procedure.
The ICO can be contacted at:
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Please click here for further contact details.
APHA is an Executive Agency of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and also works on behalf of the Scottish
Government, Welsh Government and Food Standards Agency to safeguard animal and plant health for the benefit of people, the
environment and the economy
