With the recent news of an outbreak of Foot and Mouth, our concerns immediately recall the dreaded Foot and Mouth epidemic in 2001 which effectively put a stop to most MTBing in the countryside and had a devastating effect not just on farming but on tourism and recreation industries too. With this latest outbreak in Guildford, Surrey, are we facing a repeat or has the Government learnt valuable lessons in the six years that have passed?

On Sunday 5 August, Foot and Mouth – the first since 2001 – was discovered in a farm in Surrey. The strain was detected in 38 cows, and for precautionary method 120 animals were culled to prevent it spreading. Compared to the disaster that ensued in 2001 when the Government were slow to react, this time around officials have been very quick to ban all livestock movements in England, Scotland and Wales and impose a 10km protection and surveillance zone.

A second outbreak nearby was announced on the morning of 7 August, with another 150 cows culled.

The source for this latest strain of Foot and Mouth is reported to be Merial Animal Health, a pharmaceutical company, though this has not been confirmed yet. What has been confirmed is the strain of virus: DEFRA describes it as “a 01 BFS67–like virus, isolated in the 1967 Foot and Mouth Disease outbreak in Great Britain. The strain is akin to that used for creating vaccines, and the Pirbright site were using this strain for research and vaccines. It begs the question of how exactly can the virus be allowed to escape from this facility?

The South West Tourism board have declared that the countryside is still open to all, and DEFRA’s stated policy is to only close rights of way if it’s absolutely necessary – unlike in 2001, keeping the countryside open is a priority. We wouldn’t expect to be able to ride across any officially infected premises, though…

In 2001 the outbreak led to nearly 10 million animals being destroyed in an effort to eliminate all traces of the strain. It cost the UK upwards of £8 billion and had serious effects on the tourism industry and particularly mountain biking, with pretty much no trails open in England and Wales for several months leading to a downturn in bike and equipment sales and hard times for accommodation providers, cafe owners and so on.

If you’re looking at the mainstream news media you’d think that something akin to armageddon was going on, but the reality seems to be much less alarming. Two affected premises, the authorities on the case and a stated aim to keep the countryside open sounds as promising to us as these things can be. We’ll keep you posted…