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Foot and mouth: Officials
knew about leak
Laura Clout, Matthew Moore
London
Telegraph
Friday September 7, 2007
Two investigations into the recent
foot and mouth outbreak have found evidence that officials
at a treatment plant were aware of the leaks for several years,
but failed to carry out repairs.
Records uncovered during the investigations are
said to indicate that there had been concerns about the state
of a faulty drainage pipe, through which the virus is believed
to have escaped, for several years but no repairs were carried
out - possibly because funds were not made available.
The official inquiries will conclude that the
virus escaped through the drainage pipe linking the two laboratories
at the Pirbright research site in Surrey.
The reports are said to have identified five
separate breaches of biosecurity at the site, which is shared
by the government-funded Institute for Animal Health and the private
Merial pharmaceutical firm.
According
to the BBC, in addition to the leaks from a pipe linking Merial
to a treatment plant run by the institute, a loose manhole cover
which allowed floodwaters to escape, the breaches also include
lapses in the monitoring and control of people and vehicles at
the site.
(Article continues below)
It is unclear which of the agencies was responsible
for the pipe’s maintenance, but photographs of the pipe
are said to show clear signs of damage from tree roots.
The virus could then have been carried to the
surface by floodwaters and spread to nearby farms via workmen.
Defra
will publish the two reports - the findings of an investigation
by the Health and Safety Executive into the outbreak of the disease
on two farms near Guildford, and a biosecurity review led by Professor
Brian Spratt, of Imperial College London.
Pirbright is three miles from where the first
herd went down with the disease in Normandy, Surrey, early last
month.
The cattle, belonging to Derrick and Roger Pride
on rented land, were culled but the virus was later found in animals
on their farm several miles away in Elstead, near Guildford.
A second farmer, John Gunner, saw his herd destroyed
after they tested positive for the disease just outside Normandy.
Around 600 cattle were slaughtered to contain
the outbreak and a ban on animal movements and trade was imposed
for several weeks, costing the farming industry an estimated £50m.
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INFOWARS:
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