title: Foot and mouth disease and cryptosporidiosis: possible interaction between two emerging infectious diseases.
abstract: During 2001, a large outbreak of foot and mouth disease occurred in the United Kingdom, during which approximately 2,030 confirmed cases of the disease were reported, >6 million animals were slaughtered, and strict restrictions on access to the countryside were imposed. We report a dramatic decline in the reported incidence of human cryptosporidiosis in northwest England during weeks 13-38 in 2001, compared with the previous 11 years. This decline coincided with the period of foot and mouth restrictions. No similar reduction occurred in the other 26 weeks of the year. We also noted a substantial decline in the proportion of human infections caused by the bovine strain (genotype 2) of Cryptosporidium parvum during weeks 13-38 in that year but not during the other weeks.
authors.affiliation: University of East Anglia, Norwich, United Kingdom. paul.hunter@uea.ac.uk
authors.forename: Paul R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Hunter
authors.forename: Rachel M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Chalmers
authors.forename: Qutub
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Syed
authors.forename: L Sara
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Hughes
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Woodhouse
authors.forename: Louise
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Swift
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000829:Animals, Domestic; D002417:Cattle; D021821:Communicable Diseases, Emerging / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology / Q000821:virology; D003457:Cryptosporidiosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology; D016785:Cryptosporidium parvum; D005536:Foot-and-Mouth Disease / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D006113:United Kingdom