Legionnaires' link to suspect lab

2007-08-09 17:17

London - British authorities are probing a reported case of Legionnaires' disease allegedly linked to the research institute suspected over the recent outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease, officials said on Thursday.

The Health Protection Agency confirmed there was "an investigation ... of a reported case of Legionnaires' disease with alleged links to the Institute of Animal Health at Pirbright, in Surrey".

In a statement it said a patient suffering from the potentially-fatal disease worked in a building at the government-run lab, which is being probed over an outbreak of foot-and-mouth on three farms nearby since Friday.

"As part of the investigations, everywhere the patient has been in the 10-14 days before falling ill, including their home, place of work and anywhere they may have travelled to or visited, is assessed to establish whether there is any potential source of infection," it said.

Legionnaires' disease - first discovered at an American Legion convention in the United States in 1976, where 29 people died - causes high fever, dry cough, lung congestion and subsequent pneumonia.

It is commonly spread through contaminated water sources, air conditioners and ventilators and is treated with antibiotics. People aged 50 or older are mainly affected but it cannot be spread from human to human.

Early findings

The investigation is being carried out by HPA inspectors in Surrey and the Health and Safety Executive, which is also probing the government-run lab and a private drugs firm on the Pirbright site over the foot-and-mouth outbreak.

Early signs on the Legionnaires' case suggested nothing untoward in the government-run institute's practices, the HPA said.

"These findings ... suggested that the Institute was carrying out all necessary maintenance and monitoring work in compliance with the Approved Code of Practice for the control of Legionella," it added.

"Results of subsequent sampling over a wider area are still awaited."

The Pirbright facility, which houses the IAH and Merial Animal Health, a private firm which produces vaccines, has been under scrutiny since shortly after the first foot-and-mouth outbreak on a nearby farm last Friday.

- AFP