2001 UK foot-and-mouth outbreak - 25 years on: "Infectious diseases do not respect borders or species barriers, and we ignore this at our peril" | Farm News

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2001 UK foot-and-mouth outbreak - 25 years on: "Infectious diseases do not respect borders or species barriers, and we ignore this at our peril"

Before his career in politics, Epping Forest MP Dr Neil Hudson was a veterinary inspector who was on the frontline of the foot-and-mouth outbreak in 2001. Dr Hudson remembers the once bustling farms which became empty, the impact it had on the sector's mental health, and why the current Government should never take the UK's national biosecurity for granted

Dr Neil Hudson

18 February 2026 鈥� 3 min read

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Epping Forest MP Dr Neil Hudson said: "We need to make sure the burning pyres of slaughtered animals as well as the economic and mental health devastation of foot-and-mouth remain resolutely confined to the history books. Compromised biosecurity affects everything from animal health, public health, to the price of food, trade, to our position on the world stage and our precious environment."

My journey as a vet into politics began after I spent a period as a veterinary inspector during the 2001 foot-and-mouth outbreak supervising some of the tragic animal culls. I saw sights then that...

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