Abstract
Following the first reported case on 20 February this year, foot-and-mouth disease spread to over 1,500 livestock farms in the United Kingdom by the end of April1,2,3. From late March, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) required livestock on infected farms to be culled within 24 hours of the disease being reported and those on neighbouring farms within 48 hours. Here we investigate whether progress towards meeting these targets3 has had a detectable impact on the course of the epidemic in the United Kingdom. We conclude that it has now been brought under control, but it will be important to contain rapidly any new outbreaks in previously unaffected areas.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anon. Vet. Rec. 148, 286–288 (2001).
Anon. Vet. Rec. 148, 390–393 (2001).
Anderson, R. M. & May, R. M. Infectious Diseases of Humans: Dynamics and Control (Oxford Science, Oxford, 1991).
Woolhouse, M. & Donaldson, A. Nature 410, 515–516 (2001).
Patil, G. P., Pielou, E. C. & Waters, W. E. (eds) Statistical Ecology Vol. II (Pennsylvania State Univ. Press, 1971).
Sellers, R. F., Garland, A. J. M., Donaldson, A. I. & Gloster, J. Br. Vet. J. 137, 608–620 (1981).
Haydon, D. T., Woolhouse, M. E. J. & Kitching, R. P. IMA J. Math. Appl. Med. Biol. 14, 1–9 (1997).
Ferguson, N., Donnelly, C. & Anderson, R. Science 13 April 2001 (http://www.scienceexpress.org).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Woolhouse, M., Chase-Topping, M., Haydon, D. et al. Foot-and-mouth disease under control in the UK. Nature 411, 258–259 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/35077149
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/35077149
This article is cited by
-
The role of movement restrictions in limiting the economic impact of livestock infections
Nature Sustainability (2019)
-
Recombinant helical plant virus-based nanoparticles for vaccination and immunotherapy
Virus Genes (2018)
-
Quantification of transmission of foot-and-mouth disease virus caused by an environment contaminated with secretions and excretions from infected calves
Veterinary Research (2015)
-
Rapid detection of pandemic influenza in the presence of seasonal influenza
BMC Public Health (2010)
-
Induction of protective immunity in swine by recombinant bamboo mosaic virus expressing foot-and-mouth disease virus epitopes
BMC Biotechnology (2007)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.