09/08/2007

Legionnaires' Investigation At Surrey Laboratory

Officials are investigating a reported case of Legionnaires' disease, which may be linked to the Pirbright research site in Surrey.

The site has also been linked to the outbreak of foot-and-mouth, which has affected two farms in Surrey.

Now the Health Protection Agency has confirmed that the Institute of Animal Health at the Pirbright site is being investigated in probe into the Legionnaires' case. It is believed that this case predates the outbreak of foot-and-mouth.

The HPA said that it was routine that every place a patient visited in the 10 -14 days before becoming ill would be investigated.

Legionnaires' disease is caused by a bacterium, which causes flu-like symptoms if it is converted from water into aerosol form.

A nationwide ban on the movement of livestock for slaughter, imposed after the first case of foot-and-mouth was discovered, was lifted at midnight on Thursday.

However, a ban on other movement of animals, such as taking them to market, remains in place, as does a EU ban on exporting British meat and livestock.

The first outbreak of the virus was discovered at Woolford Farm, near Guilford, on Friday and this was followed by a second outbreak at a second farm, close to the farm where the first outbreak occurred, on Monday.

It was also revealed on Wednesday that livestock at a third farm in Surrey, close to the other two farms that were infected, were culled as a precautionary measure after foot-and-mouth was suspected.

On Wednesday, the Health and Safety Executive revealed a "strong possibility" that the nearby Pirbright research centre - which houses both the private company Merial Animal Health and the government-run Institute for Animal Health (IAH) - was the source of the foot-and-mouth outbreak.

(KMcA)


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08 August 2007
Inspectors Continue To Trace Foot-And-Mouth Outbreak
Health inspectors are continuing to investigate the outbreak of foot-and-mouth at two farms in Surrey to find the cause. A number of lines of inquiry are being investigated, including the possibility that employees from a nearby research site could have spread the virus.
13 September 2007
Virus Strain 'Same In Foot-And-Mouth Outbreaks'
The latest outbreak of foot-and-mouth in Surrey is "likely" to be the same strain that infected two farms in the area last month, the government has confirmed.
23 August 2007
EU Ban On British Meat To Be Lifted
The export ban on British meat and animal products is to be lifted on Saturday. While the ban will be lifted, a 10km zone ban will remain in place around the Surrey sites at the centre of the original source of the outbreak. Prime Minister Gordon Brown welcomed the lifting of the ban imposed following the recent foot-and-mouth outbreak.
14 September 2007
FMD Restrictions Eased Outside England
Restrictions on the movement of animals following the latest outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in England have been eased in Scotland and Wales. The restrictions have been eased in order to allow farmers to transport livestock for slaughter, but they still remain unable to move animals for any other reasons.
12 September 2007
Case Of Foot-And-Mouth Confirmed
A case of foot-and-mouth has been found at a site in Egham, 10 miles from the scene of the last outbreak in Surrey. A pre-emptive slaughter of cattle at Milton Park Farm in Stroude Road in Egham is already underway and a 10km exclusion zone has been set by around the site, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) confirmed.