FMD Confirmed at Third Location in UK

August 8, 2007 — 

The UK Department of the Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has confirmed an outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) at a third Surrey site located between the index farm and the Pirbright Laboratory.

The initial outbreak is actually located on two separate sites owned by the same individual and is being considered as one outbreak by DEFRA. This latest outbreak is located on a farm owned by another individual. To date, 97 cattle were culled from the initial outbreak (64 from the infected premises and 33 from two dangerous contact premises) and 102 have been culled from the latest outbreak. The carcasses have been incinerated.

DEFRA has ordered 300,000 doses of FMD vaccine from an existing stockpile frozen in a vaccine bank. The vaccine will be prepared for use by Merial although the decision has not yet been made as to whether or not it will be used.

The investigation is on-going into how the virus escaped from the Pirbright Labs property and from which facility, the Merial Laboratory or the Institute for Animal Health (IAH) at Pirbright, the virus originated. Officials have speculated that the most likely route of transmission involves the accidental or intentional human movement. Merial was utilizing large amounts of the virus recently to produce vaccine and the IAH was using smaller quantities in research projects.

Seventy-five premises had been identified by August 5th in the initial 3 km Protection Zone involving 750 cattle, 1500 sheep and 200 pigs.

In case you're interested, the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) imposes a 5 day downtime on people visiting FMD positive animals at the Plum Island Animal Disease Center. Most research indicates that it is unlikely to transmit FMD from humans associating with infected animals after approximately 48 hours following a thorough shower including cleaning of fingernails and expectorating nasal and oral cavities.

Sources:
DEFRA
http://www.hse.gov.uk/news/archive/07aug/pirbright.htm
http://www.defra.gov.uk/footandmouth/latest-situation/index.htm

The Guardian