Daniel Cressey
I. HODGSON/REUTERS
Responding to an anthrax scare in Liverpool, UK in 2001.
n the movie 28 Days Later a deadly virus escapes from a British research lab and wreaks havoc across the country. That was fiction, but concerns about lab safety are not.
It is now nearly certain that the foot-and-mouth virus discovered on 3 August in cattle near Guildford, UK, originated at the nearby animal-research facility in Pirbright. The incident seems to have been due to an accidental leak of the virus from either the government-run Institute for Animal Health (IAH) or commercial vaccine manufacturer Merial Animal Health, which share the Pirbright facility. Merial said last week that it "has complete confidence in its safety and environmental protection". The IAH also says it does not know of any security breaches and is cooperating with the inspectors.
This latest incident highlights the problems that can occur with the security of so-called 'dual-use' research — work that could be of use to terrorists as well as to legitimate researchers (see 'Laboratory lapses').(...)
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