The UK's main facility for dealing with viruses that jump from animals to humans has deteriorated to an alarming degree.
The site in Weybridge was cited as having inadequate management and under-investment.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs had failed in its historical management of the centre.
The laboratories are being upgraded, according to Defra.
The center is run by the APHA. The UK is able to control the outbreak of animal diseases by using it.
More than one thousand single points of failure were found at the Weybridge site.
The laboratories were vulnerable to a major breakdown which would impact the UK's ability to respond to an outbreak.
Some of the most deadly viruses on the planet arezoonotic diseases that cross between species.
According to the report, the risk to the UK of a zoonotic disease is real and the consequences can be devastating.
After the 2001 disaster of foot and mouth disease, the past decades have brought one animal-sourced disease after another.
She said it was shocking that the UK's capacity had deteriorated so alarmingly. "These diseases are devastating for our food production systems, the economy and, when they jump the species barrier to humans as Covid-19 did, to our entire society."
The UK and EU are in the middle of a record outbreak of bird flu.
Prof Paul Wigley warned that the bird flu could jump to other species.
"Weybridge has always been a great place to live and work." He said that it has been placed in a perilous position because of under funding. The UK is unlikely to cope with another major outbreak of animal or zoonotic disease without support.
The government plans to build a new science hub on the site in the 20th century. Funding is still not decided.
The head of the department of veterinary medicine at the University of Cambridge said that the decline of the facility had been clear.
We can't rely on laboratory resources from our European partners. The central role of laboratories in the diagnosis and control of the bird flu outbreak is clear.
The current major Weybridge redevelopment programme is very welcome and important but it will take many years to be implemented and there are risks of laboratory failure.
Significant funding and work is already underway to upgrade Weybridge's laboratories and ensure we are protected from these diseases into the future.
The current Avian Influenza outbreak is the largest on record and the world's leading scientists and field teams are playing a vital role in responding.
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