EPIC Conference 2026: From Outbreak to Insight: The Legacy of FMD 2001

Outbreak response Preparedness Policy engagement Cattle Pigs Sheep Presentation Decision makers General interest Livestock sector

EPIC

From Outbreak to Insight: The Legacy of FMD 2001

Twenty-five years have passed since the 2001 foot and mouth disease outbreak in the UK. Even with the passage of time, the outbreak continues to shape both our collective memory and our approach to disease preparedness. The outbreak prompted changes that have shaped how we respond to similar threats. Over the past quarter century, there have been significant technological and infrastructural advances. Even so, the experience of 2001 remains a reminder that there is still more to be done.

This year’s EPIC conference takes the 2001 outbreak as its starting point. Conference delegates reflected on what has changed since then, how systems have developed in response, and the degree to which these developments have been contingent on events and decisions made at the time. At the same time, we critically examined the gaps that remain.

The conference also considered how wider changes in society and the environment might influence risk and management of future disease incursions. Finally, we explored what options are available going forward, considering both current limitations and the challenges of a changing world. Discover more details about our

Conference overview

Held on 15–16 September at the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, the 2026 EPIC Conference brought together researchers and stakeholders to discuss the lasting impact of the 2001 outbreak and consider priorities for future disease preparedness.

keynote speakers and panel session participants

Professor Harriet Auty, Co-Director of EPIC and Professor of Global Animal Health (Infectious Disease Ecology) at the University of Glasgow, shared her personal experience of the 2001 outbreak during the conference welcome address. As a third-year veterinary student, she and many of her fellow students volunteered to support the disease response over the summer. "We don't want to dwell on the past, but at the same time we do want to reflect and acknowledge the impacts and to use that to look at what lessons we need to keep in mind for the future".

Conference Day One

On the first day, Professor Maggie Mort, Professor of Sociology from Lancaster University, took delegates back to 2001 through contemporary diary entries and recorded interviews with people directly involved in the outbreak response in Cumbria, as well as local residents. Drawing on these accounts through a social science perspective, her presentation explored the human and social impact of the outbreak, providing historical context for the discussions that followed.

The research materials collected by Professor Mort and colleagues are available in the UK Data Service catalogue:Health and Social Consequences of the Foot and Mouth Disease Epidemic in North Cumbria, 2001-2003.

The foot and mouth epidemic in North Cumbria project archive can be accessed from the Lancaster University Special Collections: Foot and mouth epidemic in North Cumbria project archive - Lancaster University

Professor Christine Middlemiss, the UK Chief Veterinary Officer, shared a pre-recorded presentation: 'From 2001 to today: how the outbreak shaped today's preparedness and response systems.'

Professor Middlemiss shared her reflections on the 2001 outbreak from the perspective of a practising vet at the time, drawing on her experience working in Carlisle during the response. She also discussed the longer-term impact of the outbreak on the sheep industry and her subsequent work with the Scottish and UK Governments to manage disease risks. Looking ahead, she reflected on developments in disease detection and response, including the Anderson Inquiry and the Veterinary Risk Group, as well as how changes in the way we interact with animals could help reduce the risk of future outbreaks.

EPIC presenter Dr Sibylle Mohr from the University of Glasgow focused on an important post-2001 policy change highlighted in Prof Middlemiss's presentation, discussing "Revisiting standstills and FMD risk in Scotland, 25 years on." Dr Mohr's work addresses Scottish Government policy questions regarding the duration of standstills and the impact of exemptions on the policies' integrity.

The Sheep Scab and Pan-Island Initiative has demonstrated significant impact and strong stakeholder engagement across farming communities in Lewis & Harris, Orkney, and the Shetland Isles. Dr Claire Hardy of the James Hutton Institute presented an overview of the project, outlining its research findings and practical experiences in 'Hard to Reach, but with a Voice to Be Heard: Positive Engagement with Livestock Keepers Around Emerging Disease.' Further details of the project are available on our impact pages.

Day one of the conference closed with a poster viewing where sixteen posters on EPIC work and other projects were presented, and delegates engaged in lively discussions followed by a dinner reception.

Conference Day Two

Day two of the conference began with a presentation by Professor Mark Woolhouse, former Director of EPIC. Drawing on his decades of experience advising governments on infectious disease outbreaks, including the 2001 FMD outbreak and COVID-19 pandemic, he explored how these events have shaped the relationship between science and policy in the UK.

In his presentation, 'The next 25 years: how the events of 2001 changed the relationship between science and policy in the UK', Professor Woolhouse emphasised the importance of learning from past animal and human disease outbreaks, noting that lessons have not always been carried forward. Looking ahead, he discussed the potential for artificial intelligence to support outbreak management by generating new insights and improving the presentation of epidemiological information. He also highlighted the need to strengthen capacity for disease outbreak planning, pointing to the EPIC Centre of Expertise model as a potential approach for the human health sector.

The day's first presentation by an EPIC researcher was delivered by Dr Davide Pagnossin of the University of Edinburgh, who discussed his role as a knowledge broker to the Scottish Government's Animal Health and Welfare Policy Team. A key part of his work within EPIC involves developing veterinary risk assessments (VRAs) to address specific policy questions, communicating potential risks in rapidly evolving outbreak situations where information is often limited.

His presentation, 'Evidence, uncertainty, and urgency: Veterinary Risk Assessment for policy support', gave delegates an insight into the challenges of researching and preparing VRAs, and how these assessments can inform policy decisions.

A core underpinning activity within EPIC is the provision of timely data to support epidemiological insights across the project's activities. Dr Julie Stirling from SRUC, gave an overview of the procurement, organisation, and secure use of data in the talk: 'EPIC's data repository - progress, opportunities and challenges'.

Dr Chris Pooley of BioSS, presenting on behalf of Dr Grant Henderson, introduced generic software tools developed in EPIC for the mathematical modelling of epidemics using Bayesian inference. Essential for modelling ongoing ‘live’ epidemics, Dr Pooley laid out how these tools enable rapid model development and evolution as additional outbreak data become available. Find out more about the tools highlighted in the presentation "Quantifying live epidemics using Bayesian inference" at the Inference Tools for Tools for Epidemiology (ITEAM) website.

Professor Iain McKendrick of BioSS, in the presentation 'Modellers and modelling: findings from the ELUCIDATE project', took a broader view sharing insights from the ELUCIDATE project, which sought to understand how mathematical models are used in practice at the science-policy interface through interviews and discussions with modellers, policymakers and other stakeholders. Mathematical modelling is seen as an important, but not the only, source of evidence guiding policy responses during an outbreak.

Dr Don King of The Pirbright Institute is part of the frontline in dealing with the fight against FMD for the UK, Europe and globally. In the presentation, 'Preparing for the next FMD outbreak: support from the National Reference Laboratory', Dr King provided an update on the global FMD situation, highlighting the varied challenges each outbreak presents, how these are developing, their potential impact and the efforts being made to control FMD.

In a broad-ranging talk, Professor Jasmina Panovska-Griffiths, Pandemic Sciences Institute and The Queen’s College at Oxford University, shared experiences of working in a crowded epi-modelling landscape and finding less trodden paths to anticipate and answer key policy questions. In the presentation, 'Modelling for policy or policy informed by modelling - the role of models in real-time epidemic outbreaks', Prof. Panovska-Griffiths detailed several examples of their work operating in a 'live' outbreak situation and how policy informs the direction of modelling work and vice versa.

Conference Panel

In the final session of the conference, Professor Lisa Boden, Co-Director of EPIC, hosted a five-speaker panel focused on 'Where do we go from here? Priorities for future disease resilience.’ The panel session was not recorded.

Professor Iain McKendrick, Co-Director of EPIC, closed the conference by thanking speakers and panel members for embracing and engaging with the conference theme. He also gratefully acknowledged fellow EPIC co-director Professor Harriet Auty for leading the conceptualisation, direction and organisation of the conference alongside the EPIC knowledge exchange team and Roslin communications team.