Government lab says not to blame for Britain's foot and mouth

LONDON (AFP) - The government-run research laboratory at the centre of Britain's foot and mouth crisis insisted yesterday that it was not to blame for recent outbreaks of the virus.

The Institute for Animal Health (IAH) suggested that private drug company Merial Animal Health, with which it shares the site suspected of being the source of the foot and mouth outbreak, should be under greater scrutiny.

"We have previously reported that the Institute for Animal Health works only on small volumes of virus ... whereas vaccine production by Merial is one million times greater," IAH director Professor Martin Shirley told reporters.

"All of our checks have shown this ... treatment facility to have been working appropriately at all times. We would be surprised to learn of the presence of any virus in the soil around our drains."

Meanwhile, trucks had resumed transporting livestock across Britain after foot and mouth restrictions were eased, a decision welcomed by farmers.

"It is a relief all round, particularly for lamb and pig producers, where the maturation period is only a few days, and they need to move quickly," said a spokesman for the National Farmers' Union (NFU).

The organisation also hailed what it said were prospects that a European Union (EU) ban on British meat and livestock exports could be partially lifted within weeks.

EU vets meeting in Brussels Wednesday decided to prolong the ban due to fears of a spread of the potentially-devastating disease from Britain to the rest of Europe, but agreed to review the decision on August 23.

"We are encouraged that dates have been set to review the situation regarding the export ban and that new decisions could be possible within the next few weeks," said NFU president Peter Kendall.

In another sign of falling tension, neighbouring France lifted a week-old ban on moving cattle, pigs, sheep and goats imposed in response to the outbreak.

The ban on livestock movements was imposed after the disease was first confirmed late Friday. The restrictions were relaxed as the highly-contagious virus appeared to have been contained within an exclusion zone in southeast England.

Farmers are now allowed to move cattle, sheep and pigs to slaughter under strict conditions and dispose of dead livestock, which were also not allowed to be moved for fear of spreading the disease.

Experts have found that the strain of virus found on two nearby farms was similar to that made at the Pirbright site in Surrey. Test results were expected on a third suspected outbreak, also close to Pirbright.

Shirley said that he did not expect to make a further statement yesterday, making Friday the earliest possible day for results from the third suspected outbreak.

Inspectors have said there is a "strong probability" that the virus was leaked from Pirbright, although they have not pointed the finger at either the government-run lab or the private firm specifically.

But they have also indicated it is more likely the leak was somehow carried out by someone from the Pirbright site, rather than leaking through the air or in water.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) did not rule out sabotage, saying there were various potential routes for "accidental or deliberate transfer of material" from the site.

Yesterday officials announced an investigation into a reported case of Legionnaires' disease also linked to the site.

The victim was a worker at Pirbright, and inspectors were investigating the laboratory along with his home and everywhere else he had been in the last two weeks, to try to determine the source of the potentially fatal disease.

The IAH said the investigation into a suspected case of Legionnaires' disease on site had found "insignificant" levels of legionella, and labelled the inquiry a "regrettable distraction" from its work to test further samples for foot and mouth.