The UK Government has confirmed that the outbreak of foot and mouth disease (FMD) on a beef unit in the county of Surrey, to the south of London, was caused by a virus identical to that used at a nearby research institute. Results of preliminary investigations into the outbreak are expected by Tuesday. The virus has been identified as the 01 BFS67 strain of the disease. This strain was used by Merial Animal Health to manufacture a batch of FMD vaccine on July 16th at a laboratory three miles from the farm. Merial has a vaccine manufacturing facility on the same site as the state-owned Institute of Animal Health (IAH) at Pirbright, the main government laboratory for research into animal diseases including FMD. Both laboratories use live vaccines as part of their work. Merial immediately halted vaccine production as soon as the outbreak was announced. The UK Department of Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) acted quickly to isolate the farm, imposing a 3 mile protection and surveillance zone around it, prohibiting all livestock movements across the whole country and halting all meat exports.
So far in the 2007 incident, the 64 beef cattle on the Surrey farm have been culled and incinerated, along with similar sized herd of cattle on a neighboring unit as a precautionary measure. A number of sheep, goats and pigs on an adjacent smallholding have also been slaughtered. The virus has an eight to 14 day incubation period, so there is yet the possibility of further cases.... | ||||
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