Virus leak leads to further Merial vaccine suspension

Jamie Day, Editor

 

In view of Pirbright's central role in the FMD outbreak in the UK in August and September, the incident was considered important enough for the secretary of state at the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) Hilary Benn to make a statement to the UK Parliament. Mr Benn noted that the Specified Animal Pathogens Order (SAPO) licence had been restored to Merial on November 6^th this year after the authorities had declared its facility safe for the manufacture of live vaccines.

 

However, on Monday November 19th, the company discovered a shortfall in the quantity of virus recovered from the previous week's production. The problem was quickly traced to a leaking valve on a pipe leading from a centrifuge used to separate live virus from waste product. A full decontamination and disinfection process was carried out. Merial says that despite its adherence to the stringent standard operating procedures required by the SAPO licence, the valve, which is replaced annually, appears to have failed. Live virus could have escaped into the contained drainage system, where it would undergo chemical treatment, but would have missed a heat treatment stage.

 

Merial informed DEFRA of the incident. The Department suspended the company's SAPO licence, and sent in a joint DEFRA, Health and Safety Executive and Veterinary Medicine Directorate inspection team. This team has since confirmed that the biosecurity procedures under the SAPO licence were observed, with no live virus released into the environment.

 

A statement from Merial confirms that its biosecurity waste treatment facilities handled the situation exactly as they are designed to do, with no live virus escaping the secure containment. It adds that the faulty valve has been repaired, and after discussions with DEFRA, it expects to have the licence restored and be operational again soon. 

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