UK FMD Virus in Pipe near Lab

September 7, 2007 - Investigations into last month's foot-and-mouth outbreak in Surrey, England, have found the virus was in a pipe on the nearby Pirbright laboratory site, the BBC reported. The health and safety executive found lapses in biosecurity at the site.

Virus traces were found in a pipe running from the Merial pharmaceutical firm to a treatment plant operated by a government-run lab on the same complex. It is believed the pipe may have been damaged by tree roots before flooding pushed the traces to the surface.

It is not known how the virus found its way on to the farmland a few miles way following the flooding on July 20. The investigation did establish that contractors working at Pirbright at the time traveled to and from the site using a country road adjoining the farmland where the first outbreak occurred.
Reprinted in part from BBC News Web Site

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