Posted by Farmers Weekly livestock editor, Jonathan Long
So, a number of biosecurity breaches at the Institute for Animal Health, Pirbright, are to blame for last month’s outbreak of foot-and-mouth in Surrey.
My immediate response is simply “tell us something we didn’t already know”. According to the BBC, the two reports due today highlight five key breaches and outline a possible means for the virus being transferred out of the site, but does that really move things further forward?
Well in all honesty probably not, after all we already knew the Pirbright site was the source of the outbreak and that both the IAH and Merial labs had handled the virus in the weeks prior to the outbreak.
However, in outlining the likely route of transmission, the reports will, undoubtedly, leave many people questioning the quality of the facilities at Pirbright. No one is questioning the quality of the work being done there, but it is obviously being done in outdated poorly maintained buildings.
The fact that the most likely source of the leak is a cracked waste pipe is a disgrace. Surely any site handling such highly contagious diseases should have a regular inspection and maintenance plan which identifies and resolves such problems swiftly and effectively?
If this is not the case it should be. We all hope DEFRA and IAH learn as many lessons from this outbreak as many others clearly did from the 2001 F&M disaster.
As an industry, farming has a raft of legislation to comply with, much of it with regard to preventing pollution and food safety. IAH and ultimately DEFRA must now demonstrate they can apply equally rigorous regulation to their own activities.
By being the source of this outbreak they have failed livestock farmers gravely, something no government agency must be allowed to do again.