Snappy newsletters. Simple Facebook sharing. Spirited comments. Sweet features are waiting… GET THEM NOW!

Hot on Facebook
Guy Buys $123 Safe on eBay, Finds $26,000 Inside Seller tries to get half the cash back, fails »

Foot and Mouth Outbreak Traced to Lab

Vaccine may have leaked and spread to nearby farm

By Sam Biddle,  Newser Staff

Posted Aug 5, 2007 11:13 AM CDT

(Newser) – An English research lab is the likely source of a recent outbreak of foot and mouth disease, the Guardian reports. British government officials believe a batch of experimental vaccine leaked and spread to a nearby farm. Scientists were tipped to the possible leak by the fact that the strain of the virus is not one that occurs naturally, but is a vaccine strain.

The company is just three miles from the farm where the outbreak occurred.
A 10km "surveillance zone" has been established around the farm, to avoid a reprise of the catastrophic foot and mouth breakout in 2001 that cost the nation billions.

A British police officer watches a truck believed to be transporting the carcasses of the slaughtered cows  from a cattle farm, where an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease was diagnosed Friday, near Guildford, England, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of London, Saturday, Aug. 4, 2007. The case is the first...
A British police officer watches a truck believed to be transporting the carcasses of the slaughtered cows from a cattle farm, where an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease was diagnosed Friday, near Guildford,...   (Associated Press)
An aerial view of a farm on Westwood Lane in Normandy, Surrey southern England where an outbreak of foot and mouth disease has been discovered in a heard of sixty cattle, Saturday Aug 4, 2007. Authorities imposed a nationwide ban on moving livestock in a bid to stop the spread...
An aerial view of a farm on Westwood Lane in Normandy, Surrey southern England where an outbreak of foot and mouth disease has been discovered in a heard of sixty cattle, Saturday Aug 4, 2007. Authorities...   (Associated Press)
Cars and trucks are sprayed with disinfectant as they enter Dun Laoghaire harbour, in Dublin, after arriving on a ferry from Britain, Saturday Aug. 4, 2007. Britain banned the export of livestock and livestock products Saturday after foot-and-mouth disease was discovered on an English farm, and authorities halted the movement...
Cars and trucks are sprayed with disinfectant as they enter Dun Laoghaire harbour, in Dublin, after arriving on a ferry from Britain, Saturday Aug. 4, 2007. Britain banned the export of livestock and...   (Associated Press)
A padlock and tapes are seal off a closed footpath Saturday, Aug. 4, 2007 near Guildford, England, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of London, which runs near to a cattle farm where an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease was diagnosed Friday. The case is the first in Britain since 2001,...
A padlock and tapes are seal off a closed footpath Saturday, Aug. 4, 2007 near Guildford, England, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of London, which runs near to a cattle farm where an outbreak of...   (Associated Press)
Police officers block a road Saturday, Aug. 4, 2007 near Guildford, England, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of London, which runs near to a cattle farm where an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease was diagnosed Friday. The case is the first in Britain since 2001, when an epidemic devastated the...
Police officers block a road Saturday, Aug. 4, 2007 near Guildford, England, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of London, which runs near to a cattle farm where an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease...   (Associated Press)
A police officer stands guard near a warning sign and tapes  on a closed off footpath Saturday, Aug. 4, 2007 near Guildford, England, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of London, which runs near to a cattle farm where an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease was diagnosed Friday. The case is...
A police officer stands guard near a warning sign and tapes on a closed off footpath Saturday, Aug. 4, 2007 near Guildford, England, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of London, which runs near to...   (Associated Press)
« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow
To report an error on this story, notify our editors.
A snapshot of the day's best news stories.
 
COMMENTS
Be the first to comment on this story.

More Newser Stories

UK Inspects 3rd Foot and Mouth Case

UK Cattle Test Positive for Foot-and-Mouth

As Feed Prices Climb, Minicows Moove In

UK Farmers Facing Tax for Cattle Outbreaks

World on Brink of New Epidemic: WHO


NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS
Other Sites We Like:   24/7 Wall St.   |   Betty Confidential   |   BuzzFeed   |   Cracked   |   Fark   |   Timelines   |   The Frisky   |   Geek Sugar   |   NewsOne