Until the 2001 outbreak of foot and mouth disease Britain had been completely free of the disease for over twenty years, with the previous serious outbreak over thirty years ago.The source of the 2001 outbreak is thought to be from imported infected product, subsequently fed to pigs. The disease was recognised when the pigs were sent for slaughter. However movement of animals in the intervening period allowed the infection to be disseminated to several counties.

The particular strain of virus involved with the 2001 outbreak was first recognised in India in 1990. It had spread both East and West to Saudi Arabia, Greece, Bulgaria, China, Japan (free for over 90 years) and Korea among others. Most recently it appeared in South Africa before its arrival in Britain. It is a highly infectious strain and has overcome controls and defences in several countries which were previously free of the disease.

Foot and Mouth Disease is not per se a disease associated with intensive agriculture. In fact the countries where the disease is endemic all practise extensive agriculture, with those countries which are disease free ( such as the USA ) having a highly developed agricultural industry and sophisticated veterinary infrastructure.

However the disease in Britain has been spread more widely geographically than occurred in 1967 due both to the increased movements of animals through markets and to the reduced numbers of abattoirs available to farmers to slaughter their animals.

It is of interest that both the recent outbreak in South Africa and this current outbreak are both suspected to have been caused by the feeding of infected swill to pigs. So called 'intensive' pig farms do not feed swill and have not done so for many years.

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