Posted on 08/07/2007 9:20:07 PM PDT by Fred Nerks
A major lapse in security at a Government research laboratory complex was identified last night by an official report as the most likely cause of the foot and mouth outbreak.
Video and images at link.
A Health and Safety Executive inquiry said there was a "strong possibility" that the virus came from the Government-licensed Pirbright complex in Surrey, which is just three miles from the two farms that have been contaminated.
It is likely workers at the site - shared between the Institute for Animal Health (IAH) and its commercial partner, Merial Animal Health - were to blame for spreading the disease, the report said.
In a further twist, the HSE said that sabotage at the labs could not be ruled out. Ironically, the Government has just asked Merial to produce 300,000 foot and mouth vaccines.
Politicians and farmers' leaders were last night asking how such a fundamental breach could occur at a high-security laboratory complex where highly contagious diseases were tested.
Peter Ainsworth, the Conservative environment spokesman, said: "This is truly shocking. It will be very bad news for the farming community, who do so much to make sure they abide by the law.
"This report is devastating in its conclusions and it will be deeply troubling news for farmers, who are always being pushed to improve their bio-security. Yet the labs that are meant to be preventing the disease turn out to be the source of the outbreak."
Farmers were furious that their livelihoods were possibly being put at risk by Government scientists.
Peter Kendall, the president of the National Farmers' Union, said: "This is soul-destroying for those farmers and their families within that area. If this has come from a government agency or a private company those people will be hurt, angry and upset."
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
“Luckily there are NO terrorist doctors in England
who might have done this.”
None whatsoever...no doctor would use a syringe as part of a firing mechanism in a car-bomb...would they? No doctor would refuse to wash his hands in a solution that might contain alcohol...would they? No lab technician would use a pathogen to spread it amongst farm animals...would they?
Good heavens no! Such actions might kill people and ruin the economy!
British Cleric: Al Qaeda Chief Warned of UK Attacks, Saying ‘Those Who Cure You Will Kill You’
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=3344989
The practice samples were then stored in the slaughterhouse’s freezer, and some of them were used when more recent samples were not seen to be good enough.<<<
We would go mad, if we knew how often that happened.
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