Foot and Mouth Disease

Foot and Mouth disease (FMD) is an infectious disease affecting cloven-hoofed animals, in particular cattle, sheep, pigs, goats and deer. The disease is serious for animal health and for the economics of the livestock industry.

While FMD is not normally fatal to adult animals, it is debilitating and causes significant loss of productivity; for example milk yields may drop or the animals may become lame. In young animals it can be fatal on a large scale.

The UK last experienced the disease in 2001 when 2,030 cases occurred between February and September. Although the first FMD outbreak was confirmed in pigs in an abattoir in Essex on 20th February 2001, the origin for that outbreak is considered to have been a pig finishing unit at Burnside Farm, Heddon on the Wall, Northumberland, which was licensed to feed processed waste food.

It is believed that the virus then spread by airborne plume to seven farms in Tyne and Wear and one of these sent infected sheep to Hexham market on the 13th February. Some of these sheep were sent via dealers to markets at Longtown ( Cumbria) and then further dispersed over the period from the 14th to the 24th February.

Nick Brown, the Minister for Agriculture, introduced a total ban on animal movements nationally at 5pm on the 23rd February, three days after the first confirmed case and as soon as it became evident that movements had been responsible for spreading the disease.

According to MAFF estimates, the overall number of sheep moved after the disease entered the country and before the ban on movement was imposed on the 23rd February may well have been over 2 million.

Contacts were established between MAFF and the MOD on the day that the outbreak was detected, and close contact was maintained between officials to ensure that possible armed forces contributions were identified and explored. During the clean-up procedure over 2,000 troops were deployed to help with the operation. By 2 May an additional 1,417 vets had been mobilised since the start of the outbreak, including from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Sweden, the USA and other countries.

In total approximately 6.5 million animals were slaughtered as part of the Governments attempt to stop the outbreak. The last known case of FMD was found in September 1996.