2001 United Kingdom foot-and-mouth outbreak

The outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in the United Kingdom in 2001 caused a crisis in British agriculture and tourism. This epizootic saw 2,000 cases of the disease in farms across most of the British countryside. Over 10 million cows and sheep were killed in an eventually successful attempt to halt the disease. Cumbria was the worst affected area of the country, with 843 cases.

With the intention of controlling the spread of the disease, public rights of way across land were closed by order. This damaged the popularity of the Lake District as a tourist destination and led to the cancellation of that year's Cheltenham Festival, as well as the British Rally Championship for the 2001 season, as well as delaying that year's general election by a month. By the time that the disease was halted in October 2001, the crisis was estimated to have cost the United Kingdom £8bn (US$16bn).

Britain's last outbreak had been in 1967, and had been confined to a small area of the country. The Northumberland report issued after the 1967 outbreak had identified that speed was the key to stopping a future outbreak. When identified, animals should be slaughtered on the spot that same day, and the carcasses buried in quicklime.

In 1980, foot and mouth treatment policy passed from the hands of the British government to the European level as a result of European Community directive, 85/511. This set out procedures, such as protection and "surveillance zones", the confirmation of diagnosis by laboratory testing and that actions had to be consulted with the EU and its Standing Veterinary Committee. An earlier directive, 80/68, on the protection of groundwater gave powers to the Environment Agency to prohibit farm burials and the use of quicklime unless the site was authorised by the Agency.

Since the 1967 outbreak, there had also been significant changes in farming methods. The closure of many local abattoirs meant that animals were now transported greater distances.

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