Leaking drains caused FMD outbreak: farmers may sue
07/09/2007
The recent foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreak in the United Kingdom was probably caused by leaking drains, heavy rain and building work, a report has found.
Three test laboratories close the farm in Surrey where the outbreak occurred in early August are possible sources of the FMD virus, but the report, released by the government today, does not point the finger at any of them. One facility is run by the government, the other two by private companies.
Crucially, the strain of FMD discovered at the farm, strain O1 BFS67 (also known as 01 BFS1860) is a laboratory strain of the disease and is not naturally found in the environment.
However, all three organisations involved at the laboratory site share drainage facilities, which is why the report stops short of blaming any of them in particular.
There is a dispute between the government facility and one of the private companies, Merial, over which of them has responsibility for a key section of the drainage pipeline, which leaked the FMD virus into the soil, from where it spread to local livestock.
Chief veterinary officer, Dr Debby Reynolds, said the area was now free of the disease and that a surveillance zone around the affected farmland would be lifted tomorrow. She said more than 8,000 samples from animals had been tested over the past two weeks, and all the animals tested were healthy.
She added that she was now satisfied that the country was free from FMD, but pointed out that it will now take a further two months for international markets to acknowledge that and remove restrictions that remain on movement of livestock, meat and animal hides.
However Dr Reynolds said the earliest the UK could achieve international foot-and-mouth disease-free status would be 7 November.
However Dr Reynolds said the earliest the UK could achieve international foot-and-mouth disease-free status would be 7 November.
The president of the National Farmers Union, Peter Kendall, said it was "indefensible" that such a high-risk environment could have been allowed to get into a state of disrepair.
He told the BBC: "I find it well-nigh incredible and quite indefensible that standards should have been as lax, given that those concerned were handling some of the most dangerous animal viruses on the planet."
He said the union was in discussion with lawyers about the possibility of suing for compensation.
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