Foot and Mouth Disease and UK Zoos
8th April 2001
Issued by intotheark

In recent weeks the UK has been gripped by the outbreak of Foot and Mouth disease. It has affected all types of business and normal activity across the country and unfortunately zoos are no exception.

Many zoos have had to close their gates to visitors to try and protect their animals from becoming infected or carriers of the disease (you can learn more about the disease itself in FAQ's at the end of the article). Foot and Mouth Disease can be carried into zoos mechanically on the clothing and footwear of visitors as well as by vehicles entering the grounds of the zoo.

(It is important to note however that even when zoos are closed to visitors there is still a risk of the animals being infected by the disease as it can travel in the wind and be taken into zoo by other uncontrollable animals such as birds).

Typically FMD affects cattle, sheep, pigs and goats, but some animals that are kept in zoos can also become infected by the disease these include:

Re-Opening

As time goes by many zoos are now having to re-open, even though the disease is still present in the UK. The decision to re-open is not taken lightly but due to financial pressures many zoos have to open if they are to safe guard the long term future of their organisations and the animals within them.

If people aren't buying tickets to visit a zoo, zoos will not be able to afford to look after the animals within them, and if zoos can't look after their animals nobody will. The safety of the animals is always the number one concern for zoos.

If you are thinking of visiting your local zoo please check the list below before making your trip:

Blackpool Zoo Open
Chester Zoo Open
Colchester Zoo Open
Cotswold Wildlife Park Open
Drusillas Park Open
Edinburgh Zoo Open
Marwell Zoo Open
Twycross Zoo Open
Woburn Safari Park Open

(The list correct as of 27/07/01).

Safety First

Those zoos that have re-opened or remained open throughout the crisis have done so after consultations with experts on the disease. You can read more about those individual decisions by reading the announcements that individual zoos have published elsewhere in the ITA news section.

Extra safety measures have been put in place at all zoos to protect animals from becoming infected by mechanical transmission of the disease by visitors. If you do have any doubts about visiting a zoo that's open please contact the zoo before making a decision not to go. If it is safe to go please show your support by doing so.

Comment

Throughout the crisis the views of Zoos and Safari Parks has been given little press. But at ITA we believe it important that the views and concerns of the zoo community are heard and understood. For this reason we asked Chris Webster Chief Executive of Woburn Safari Park for his views:

FOOT & MOUTH - KEY ISSUES FOR ZOOs

The zoo community recognises the seriousness of the Foot & Mouth crisis for all sectors within Britain, including of course farming and tourism. However, it is concerned that in the heat of the situation the Government has not effectively considered the nature and importance of the "national collection" which is of world class standing. We would make three points:

a) MAFF are threatening the slaughter of all animals within 3km of a confirmed outbreak. Will this include zoos within this boundary?
b) Zoo animals are not traded commercially and do not enter the human food chain. Why can we not use vaccinations to protect our animals of high conservation value ?
c) If a case of Foot and Mouth were to be confirmed at a zoo, we would argue that we ought to be allowed to quarantine other susceptible livestock such as elephants rather than automatically destroy them. We have the facilities and expertise to be able to do this.

Despite repeated approaches for clarification on these key issues and verbal assurances from MAFF there still has not been unequivocal advice given to the zoo community in writing by MAFF.

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(26/3/01)

Frequently Asked Questions

(Information Supplied by MAFF)

Q What is Foot and Mouth Disease?
It is a highly infectious viral disease where fever is followed by the development of blisters - mainly in the mouth or on the feet. There are 7 main types of virus, which produce similar symptoms and which can only be identified separately in a laboratory.

Q How is it spread?
Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is a highly infectious disease that can spread by direct or indirect contact with infected animals. Infected animals begin by excreting the virus a few days before signs of the disease develop. Pigs in particular produce large numbers of virus particles.

Airborne spread of the disease can also take place. For example, circumstantial evidence strongly suggests that the outbreak on the Isle of Wight in 1981 resulted from the airborne spread of the virus from Brittany in northern France. This was traced through the wind direction at the time.

The disease is also spread mechanically by the movement of animals, people, vehicles and other things, which have been contaminated by the virus.

Meat from the carcass of animals infected with the disease at the time of slaughter can transmit the virus. In the past outbreaks of the disease have been linked to infected which has been imported from overseas.

Q Can people contract the disease?
Advice from the Department of Health is that it is very rare. There has only been one recorded case of Foot and Mouth Disease in a human being in Great Britain in 1966. The general effects of the disease in that case were similar to flu with some blisters. It is a mild short lived, self-limiting disease. The Food Standards Agency has advised that the disease has no implications for the human food chain.

There is however a human condition called Hand, Foot and Mouth disease, which is unrelated. It will not affect animals. If you are concerned you should contact your GP.

Q Which other countries have recently had FMD?
Foot and Mouth Disease is endemic in parts of Asia, Africa, the Middle East and South America, with sporadic outbreaks in disease-free areas. Countries affected by FMD in the past twelve months include Butan, Brazil, Columbia, Egypt, Georgia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Kuwait, Malawi, Malaysia, Mongolia, Namibia, Russia, South Africa, Taipei, Tajikstan, Uruguay and Zambia. The last major outbreak of the disease in the EU was in Greece last year