Disease

Animal disease

There have been over 14 exotic disease outbreaks in the UK in the last decade, including foot and mouth disease, bluetongue and bird flu.

There are very few animal diseases that are likely to cause illness in humans. However a widespread outbreak of animal disease could have a huge economic impact, particularly on the farming industry.  For example, in the outbreak of foot and mouth disease in 2001, millions of farm animals were culled to try and control the disease, and footpaths across the UK were closed which had a huge impact on the tourist industry.

Animal diseases that can be passed to humans from animals, such as West Nile virus and rabies, are rare – if an outbreak of this type of disease occurred, specific public health measures would be put in place.

Find out more about different animal diseases on the DEFRA website

Human infectious disease

While it’s unlikely that a new infectious disease would emerge in the UK, diseases may come from other countries that could spread here.  Over the past 25 years, more than 30 new or newly recognised infections have been identified around the world.  Many of these are zoonotic diseases. This means they are naturally transmitted, directly or indirectly, between vertebrate animals and humans.

Pandemic flu

A flu pandemic occurs when a new influenza virus, which people have no immunity to, emerges and starts spreading as easily as normal flu. A serious pandemic may cause numerous deaths, disrupt the daily life of many people and put huge pressure on health services and other organisations. This is why it is so high on our risk register.