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The outbreak of foot and mouth disease in the United Kingdom in the spring and summer of 2001 caused a crisis in British agriculture and tourism. The epidemic saw 2,000 cases of the disease in farms in most of the British countryside. Around seven million sheep and cattle were killed in an eventually successful attempt to halt the disease. Cumbria was the worst affected area of the country, with 843 cases. With the intention of controlling the spread of the disease, public rights of way across land were closed by order. This damaged the popularity of the Lake District as a tourist destination. By the time the disease was halted by October 2001, the crisis was estimated to have cost Britain £8bn ($15bn), and had dominated much of the 2001 UK media coverage prior to 11th September.