The Merial laboratory is the same lab responsible for an outbreak of the disease earlier this August. On November 6th, the Government had just renewed Merial's license to use live viruses for vaccine production.
Hundreds of animals were slaughtered after the August outbreak. Yet it was an isolated incident in comparison to the 2001 outbreak that resulted in millions of cattle, sheep and pig carcasses having to be burned across the U.K.
The Pirbright site contains the government-funded Institute for Animal Health, and vaccine producer Merial Animal Health.
Merial Animal Health is a unit of Merial Ltd., a joint venture between Sanofi-Aventis SA (SNY) and Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK).Merial informed The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) about the incident, and the company's operating license was suspended.
According to Environment Secretary Mr. Hilary Benn, "A malfunction was found in a valve on a pipe leading from a centrifuge that's used to separate the live virus from waste product. Operations were immediately stopped and the machine and pipes decontaminated". Mr. Benn added that "an inspection team concluded that the virus was not released into the environment".
The National Farmers' Union released a statement, via email, in which they said "Given what has happened this summer and the massive financial loss still being felt by many farmers, we are naturally very sensitive about foot-and-mouth disease. It's extremely concerning that part of the system at Merial has failed".
The DEFRA has confirmed that there will be no new livestock movement restrictions as a result of the latest suspected leak.
Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is a severe, highly communicable viral disease of cattle and swine. It also affects sheep, goats, deer, and other cloven-hooved ruminants.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Veterinary Services, the disease is caused by a virus. The virus survives in lymph nodes and bone marrow at neutral pH, but destroyed in muscle when in pH<6.0 i.e. after rigor mortis. The virus can persist in contaminated fodder and the environment for up to one month, depending on the temperature and pH conditions.
FMD viruses can be spread by animals, people, or materials that bring the virus into physical contact with susceptible animals. An outbreak can occur when people wearing contaminated clothes or footwear or using contaminated equipment pass the virus to susceptible animals.