F&M: Laboratories fingered
2007-08-07 20:58
London - A preliminary report by British
government inspectors into an outbreak of foot and mouth disease
said on Tuesday there was a "strong probability" that the strain
of virus originated from two nearby research laboratories.
The report, by the government's Health and Safety Executive,
did not point the finger at either of the animal health labs at
the site, but said they were probably the source.
One laboratory is run by the government's Institute for
Animal Health (IAH) and the other is privately owned by Merial
Animal Health Ltd, a major US-French firm.
"Subject to the ongoing work detailed above, the indications
are that there is a strong probability that the (foot and mouth
disease virus) strain involved in the farm outbreak originated
from the IAH or the Merial sites," the report said.
Human movement
The inspectors said there was a "real possibility" that
human movement was responsible for releasing the virus, although
it did not go into detail.
Notably, the report also said there was a "negligible"
likelihood that the virus, a highly contagious pathogen that is
frequently dispersed on the wind, had been dispersed from the
research laboratories on the air.
Instead, it said that "waterborne release onto the site (of
infection) remains a possibility".
At least 120 cattle have so far been slaughtered as a result
of the disease outbreak, which was first confirmed in a herd of
cattle on Friday.
- Reuters