Publication Of Reports Into Foot And Mouth Outbreak In Surrey

LONDON - Defra has today published reports from the Health and Safety Executive and Professor Brian Spratt, of Imperial College London, into the recent outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease in Surrey.

7 September 2007

3 minute read

Europe

Publication Of Reports Into Foot And Mouth Outbreak In Surrey LONDON - Defra has today published reports from the Health and Safety Executive and Professor Brian Spratt, of Imperial College London, into the recent outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease in Surrey.

Alongside these reports, Defra has also published the Government’s response which accepts, in full, the recommendations made in both reports.

In particular, Defra is taking the following steps:

Put in place new requirements for IAH and Merial to ensure that all waste is sterilised within a high containment area;
Establish improvement plans setting out the action which both IAH and Merial must take, which will be subject to inspections;
Revise guidance and licence conditions on access to restricted sites;
Require other relevant laboratories, through HSE and Defra safety alerts, to satisfy themselves that their own facilities and procedures address all the issues identified in these reports;
Establish a review of the regulatory framework for animal pathogens led by Sir Bill Callaghan, which will also address the position of
Defra as regulator, licensor and inspector of SAPO 4 regulation and as a major customer of animal pathogens research and diagnostics;
A review of funding, governance and risk management at the Pirbright site.

Hilary Benn, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said:

“The thorough and detailed work carried out by the HSE and by Professor Spratt shows that there is no absolute certainty about how the outbreak occurred and no one single factor can account for it.

“Even in these extraordinary circumstances, this should not have happened and must not happen again. That is why we are taking every possible precaution to prevent this from happening again.

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"Even in these extraordinary circumstances, this should not have happened and must not happen again. That is why we are taking every possible precaution to prevent this from happening again."

Hilary Benn, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

“Everyone who is involved – the management and staff of the IAH and Merial, Defra as the licensing authority and regulator, and the BBSRC as the owners of the Pirbright site and sponsors of IAH – must take careful note of the conclusions of these reports, and act swiftly to put right every weakness that has been identified.”

A full summary of the Government’s response to the recommendations from both reports can be found below.

Defra has today also published a further epidemiological report into the outbreak in Surrey.

The Chief Veterinary Officer, Debby Reynolds, today announced that she was satisfied that Foot and Mouth Disease had now been eradicated from Surrey.

Following the completion of the clinical inspection of livestock within the Surveillance Zone (SZ), and the results of the blood samples which have all proved negative, the 10km SZ around the Infected Premises in Surrey will be lifted at noon on Saturday 8 September. This is the earliest that this can be done under European disease legislation.

The restrictions outside the Surveillance Zone, will be lifted at the same time. This includes the 20-day standstill for livestock following movement and additional controls on livestock market and shows.