Five Breaches At Farm Disease Lab
UK - There were at least five breaches of bio-security at a lab connected with July's foot-and-mouth disease outbreak, the BBC has learned.
7 September 2007
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| Vehicles may have helped spread the virus to the cattle |
The breaches at the Institute for Animal Health at Pirbright, four miles from where the disease was found, are shown in two reports due on Friday.
They include a leaking pipe; drains inadequate for floodwater; and failures in monitoring people and vehicles.
The Institute shares the Pirbright site with the Merial animal vaccine company.
Concerns
The BBC understands that the reports, one by the Health and Safety Executive and the other by Professor Brian Spratt of Imperial College, include photographs of the pipe showing clear signs of damage from tree roots and of some joints being misaligned.
The investigators reportedly found records indicating that for several years there had been concerns about the state of the pipe, but that no repairs were carried out, possibly because funds were not made available.
