The strain of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) found at a Surrey
farm in the United Kingdom (UK) has been identified, the British
government said.
The strain in infected cattle is not one normally found in
animals, but is identical to that used for vaccines at the
Institute for Animal Health (IAH) at Pirbright, three miles (about
five km) from the farm, according to the Department for
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
"The present indications are that this strain is a 01 BFS
67-like virus, isolated in the 1967 foot-and-mouth disease outbreak
in Great Britain," the Department said in a statement on Saturday
night.
The strain is present at the IAH, and it was used in a batch
manufactured in July 2007 by a private pharmaceutical company
Merial Animal Health, which on a precautionary basis has agreed to
voluntarily halt vaccine production.
The Department could not say the laboratory was the source but
has increased the size of the protection and surveillance zones
covering farms in the area.
The firm, where the FMD was found, shares Pirbright with the
government's Institute for Animal Health, which conducts research
into FMD and where the strain is also present.
An urgent assessment of bio-security had begun at the institute.
The Department, however, said that it was too soon to reach any
firm conclusions.
Meanwhile, Merial said in a statement that "the decision to
suspend production has been taken in full consultation with the
Department and will enable the Department to carry out a thorough
investigation into all possible sources of this outbreak."
Following the outbreak on the farm, a protection zone, a
surveillance zone and an air exclusion zone were put in place
around the site to try to halt the spread of the disease.
A UK-wide ban on the movement of livestock put in place after
the FMD was confirmed at Wolford farm, near Guildford, on Friday
night, will continue.
Some 64 cattle have since been culled at the farm after testing
positive for the FMD.
The FMD is a highly contagious viral disease which affects
cattle with symptoms including fever, lesions in the mouth and
lameness. The disease only crosses the species barrier from cattle
to human with very great difficulty. The disease in humans is mild,
short-lived and requires no medical treatment.
(Xinhua News Agency August 6, 2007)