Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The study is part of the Rural Economy and Land Use (RELU) programme. Many people take pleasure from activities in forests and wild lands in the UK and others are being encouraged to participate. Unfortunately, there are risks and one of the most insidious is the possibility (albeit tiny) of acquiring a disease from wild animals; for example, ticks can be vectors of the bacterial infection leading to Lyme Disease. Both diagnosis and treatment can be problematic so prevention of acquiring such disease is highly desirable. Surprisingly little is known about how best to warn countryside users about the potential for disease without scaring them away or spoiling their enjoyment. Answering such questions was the goal of this project, and required the integration of a diverse set of scientific skills, and an understanding of the views of those who manage countryside, those who have contracted zoonotic diseases and those who access the land. This project combined knowledge from three strands of work, namely risk assessment, risk perception and communication, and scenario analysis. The study sites were selected to provide a range of environmental conditions and countryside use. Peri-urban parkland, accessible lowland forest and heath and remote upland forest were chosen as represented by Richmond Park on the fringe of Greater London, the New Forest in Southern England, and Exmoor in South West England. Further information for this study may be found through the ESRC Research Catalogue webpage: Assessing the potential risk of, and possible responses to, zoonotic diseases.

Main Topics:

This project's approach was to help those involved in the countryside to understand better how to deal with diseases such as Lyme disease, how to communicate the degree of risk effectively and how to encourage preventative action such that the countryside continues to be a source of pleasure and well-being for its users. The main implications about this research's findings are, that the proportionate and effective response to most zoonotic diseases is to influence behaviour so that people using the countryside take appropriate precautions to protect themselves.

Volunteer sample

Face-to-face interview

Telephone interview

Postal survey