THE UK research lab that accidentally released the foot-and-mouth-disease virus last August is to escape prosecution due to lack of proof. Eight resulting outbreaks led to meat export bans, causing an estimated 拢100 million in losses.
On 29 May, Surrey County Council dropped its case against the two organisations occupying the site at Pirbright in Surrey because of the difficulty of proving which one released the virus from the damaged pipework they both share. The result is that neither the Institute for Animal Health, the world鈥檚 premier lab for studying strains of the disease, nor Merial Laboratories, which makes vaccines against the virus, will be found criminally culpable.
鈥淭he case was dropped because of the difficulty of proving which one released the virus鈥�
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Three independent reports commissioned by the UK government established that the virus did come from Pirbright, but none could nail the source. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a disappointing and unsatisfactory end to the issue,鈥� says Steve Ruddy, assistant county trading standards officer at the council.
The story may not end there, though. The National Farmers鈥� Union is preparing a civil action. 鈥淲e鈥檙e giving it a go because, dammit, there were enormous losses to our economy and to our members,鈥� says NFU chief legal officer, Julie Robinson.
A spokeswoman for the agriculture ministry said the pipes have been repaired, and the government is 鈥渘ow satisfied that the labs have put in place all the necessary measures to ensure strict biosecurity鈥�.
