2001 United Kingdom Foot-and-mouth Outbreak

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 sheep and cattle 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. By the time the disease was halted by October 2001, the crisis was estimated to have cost the United Kingdom £8bn ($16bn).