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)