PEOPLE affected by the 2001 foot-and-mouth crisis suffered symptoms close to post-traumatic stress disorder for months afterwards, according to a new study.

A team from Lancaster University has concluded that the 2001 epidemic was treated as "an animal problem" and that the effects on people have not been properly understood.

Now, using research including 3,200 diary entries by 52 people from across Cumbria, the academics from the Institute for Health Research believe they have uncovered the full scale of the trauma.

Mike Sanderson, the Appleby secretary of the National Farmers Union, who was at the sharp end of dealing with the fallout of foot-and-mouth in Eden, said he was not surprised by the report's findings of widespread trauma.

"It's a fancy way of saying it was hellish, which it was. It was something no-one would want to experience. It took over everyone's life and turned the world on its head."

Senior lecturer Maggie Mort, who co-ordinated the research, said: "We felt there were a lot of studies being made of the economic consequences of the foot-and-mouth disaster, and the effect on the industry, but there had not been a large-scale study into the human consequences and the effects on communities.

"What we found - and I think it would be surprising to people outside the worst affected areas - was the sheer numbers and ranges of people that have been drawn in."

Teachers, truck drivers, clergy, nurses, slaughtermen and clean-up workers, as well as farmers, were all pulled into the "daily horror" of what was happening, said Dr Mort.

Medium-term health consequences included sleep disruption; flashbacks; nightmares; and uncontrollable emotion.

The diary entries also uncovered a range of longer-term reactions, including worries for the future; a deep sense of uncertainty; loss of trust in authority; and fears about another disaster.

The 27-month study, which was started in 2001, also showed how people living near carcass disposal sites felt they had not been involved in what was happening in their communities.

It is hoped the study's findings, published by the British Medical Journal online, will be taken up at government level, and will influence decision-makers in the future. The team's recommendations include: more flexibility in disaster planning; and for front-line workers to have more opportunities for de-briefing and counselling. The researchers also call for the NHS and voluntary organisations to share information, as although the health service did not get a lot of reports of people falling ill, the voluntary sector helplines were inundated.

Dr Mort said: "Four years on, the effects of the worst disaster to hit rural Britain since the Second World War are still being felt."