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Farm lab drain 'behind outbreak' Leaking drains 'caused outbreak'
(30 minutes later)
The recent foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in Surrey was probably caused by leaking drains, heavy rain and vehicle movement, a report has found. The recent foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in Surrey was probably caused by leaking drains, heavy rain and building work, a report has found.
The Health and Safety Executive said it was not clear which of two labs at Pirbright, four miles from where the disease was found, were responsible. The Health and Safety Executive said it was not clear which of the two labs at Pirbright, four miles from where the disease was found, were responsible.
Chief vet Debby Reynolds said the surveillance zone would be lifted in Surrey at midday on Saturday. Chief vet Debby Reynolds said Surrey was disease-free and the surveillance zone would be lifted on Saturday.
The environment secretary said there was no excuse for the outbreak.The environment secretary said there was no excuse for the outbreak.
Concerns At a news conference in central London, environment secretary, Hilary Benn, said it was not possible to know the exact cause of the outbreak.
He said: "What these reports do show is that the most likely explanation for this outbreak is a unique and unhappy combination of circumstances.
"The weaknesses in the drains, the heavy rain and floods, the building work taking place on the site, and the movement of vehicles."
Although he stopped short of placing direct blame, he said: "There can be no excuse for the fact that foot and mouth escaped from the Pirbright facility.
'Disease free'
"It should not have happened, even in these extraordinary circumstances and it must not happen again."
The reports, one by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the other by Professor Brian Spratt of Imperial College, include evidence of damage to the pipe with tree roots breaking through and unsealed manhole covers.The reports, one by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the other by Professor Brian Spratt of Imperial College, include evidence of damage to the pipe with tree roots breaking through and unsealed manhole covers.
HSE Chief Executive Geoffrey Podger said: "During our investigation we established that it was possible for the live virus strain - O1BFS - to enter the site effluent drainage system.HSE Chief Executive Geoffrey Podger said: "During our investigation we established that it was possible for the live virus strain - O1BFS - to enter the site effluent drainage system.
"We judged it likely that waste water containing the live virus, having entered the drainage pipework, then leaked out and contaminated the surrounding soil.""We judged it likely that waste water containing the live virus, having entered the drainage pipework, then leaked out and contaminated the surrounding soil."
The shadow environment secretary, Peter Ainsworth, told Radio 4's Farming Today that it is the government which is ultimately responsible for what happened. Chief veterinary officer, Debby Reynolds, said more than 8,000 samples from animals had been tested over the past two weeks, and all the animals tested were healthy.
'Government responsible'
She said she was "satisfied that foot-and-mouth disease has been eradicated from the UK in 2007".
However Dr Reynolds said the earliest the UK could achieve international foot-and-mouth disease free status would be 7 November.
Earlier, the shadow environment secretary, Peter Ainsworth, told Radio 4's Farming Today that the government was ultimately responsible for what happened.
He said: "I think it is profoundly shocking and will cause enormous anger in the farming community and the countryside generally that a site licensed by and monitored by the government can have been responsible for a leak of foot-and-mouth.He said: "I think it is profoundly shocking and will cause enormous anger in the farming community and the countryside generally that a site licensed by and monitored by the government can have been responsible for a leak of foot-and-mouth.
"I mean [it] absolutely beggars belief and enormous lessons will have to be learnt from this.""I mean [it] absolutely beggars belief and enormous lessons will have to be learnt from this."
The President of the National Farmers Union, Peter Kendall, said he was shocked that such a high-risk environment could have been allowed to get into a state of disrepair.The President of the National Farmers Union, Peter Kendall, said he was shocked that such a high-risk environment could have been allowed to get into a state of disrepair.
He told Radio Five Live: "To have such a virulent virus being worked on in a high-risk establishment, and then find there is serious dilapidation in the infrastructure, will leave an industry that is very cross and very concerned."He told Radio Five Live: "To have such a virulent virus being worked on in a high-risk establishment, and then find there is serious dilapidation in the infrastructure, will leave an industry that is very cross and very concerned."
'Cross and concerned' In the outbreak, hundreds of animals were culled and livestock movements were restricted around Britain, at a cost of millions of pounds to farmers.
Dr Julian Hiscox, a bio-security expert and senior lecturer in virology at Leeds University, told the BBC that there did need to be some changes at the site.
He said: "What we need to be looking at now is inspecting the infrastructure. These are, as the report suggests, very old buildings.
"They are decades old and I think we have to look at a programme of renewal which indeed is going on in the Pirbright complex."
In the outbreak, hundreds of animals were culled and livestock movements were restricted around Britain.
The outbreak cost farmers millions of pounds and although the authorities were widely praised for their actions in containing it, they face heavy criticism for their handling of a facility that apparently allowed the virus to escape in the first place.