Foot and Mouth Disease

Find out about Foot and Mouth Disease and where to get the latest updates on the 2007 outbreak.

Foot and Mouth Disease 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 it is not normally fatal to adult animals, it is debilitating and causes significant loss of productivity. In young animals it can be fatal on a large scale.

Latest Updates on 2007 Outbreak

Since 3 August 2007 there have been a number of confirmed cases of Foot and Mouth Disease in Surrey and Windsor and Maidenhead. A Restricted Zone is currently in place. There are no cases in East Sussex.

For the latest updates on the current situation, go to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) website, or telephone the DEFRA helpline on 08459 33 55 77.

The DEFRA website has:

• Questions and Answers on the 2007 outbreak

• Interactive map of the Restricted Zone

• Latest news releases

• About the disease and what the government is doing

• Leaflets and Factsheets to download

Previous to the 2007 outbreak, there was a major Foot and Mouth Disease epidemic in the UK in 2001.

Can People Contract the Disease?

The Department of Health advises that it is very rare for people to contract foot and mouth disease.

There has only been one recorded case in a human being in Great Britain, in 1966. The general effects of the disease in that case were similar to influenza with some blisters. In humans it is a mild, short-lived, self-limiting disease.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) advises that the disease in animals poses no food safety risk - it has no implications for the human food chain. Foot and mouth is an animal disease and not a public health issue.