Research lab in spotlight over British foot and mouth

LONDON, Aug 5 (Reuters) A US-French pharmaceutical company was at the heart of an investigation by British authorities today to try to find the source of an outbreak of highly infectious foot and mouth disease.

A laboratory run by Merial Animal Health Ltd, a company jointly owned by US drugmaker Merck&Co. Inc and France's Sanofi-Aventis SA, was sealed off and under inspection along with a nearby government-funded laboratory.

The laboratories are located around 8 km from where a herd of cattle was infected on Friday by an uncommon strain of foot and mouth disease, the same strain that is stored and used by the two labs for research and to develop vaccines.

The head of the government-funded facility, the Institute for Animal Health, said in a statement there had been no breach of security at his laboratory and said the suspect strain had not been used by his scientists for several weeks.

That left open the possibility that the Merial facility, which the government said had produced a batch containing the same strain of virus last month, was the source of the leak.

Merial, a leading animal health firm with 2006 sales of 2.2 dollar billion, issued a statement saying it was committed to the ''highest international standards of product quality and safety''.

It said it was working closely with Britain's agriculture ministry, known as Defra, to investigate the situation and had suspended further vaccination production as a precaution.

''Merial will cooperate fully with the UK government to determine the source of the disease, and will fully support Defra scientists in bringing this outbreak to a speedy and satisfactory conclusion,'' David Biland, the managing director of Merial in Britain, said.

ECONOMIC IMPACT Attention focused on the labs as the possible source of the infection after Defra said the strain of virus confirmed in the cattle was not one ''recently found in animals''.

In fact, it was a strain of the virus isolated 40 years ago by British biological researchers, it said.

Britain's chief veterinarian ordered an ''urgent review into biosecurity arrangements'' at both sites, while Defra emphasised ''all potential sources'' of the virus were being investigated.

''The important thing to bear in mind is that this is a promising lead, but we don't know for sure and therefore it is very, very important that people continue to be vigilant,'' Environment Minister Hilary Benn told BBC television, referring to the possibility the virus leaked from the laboratories.

If it is found that the cattle were infected by a leak from one of the laboratories it may reassure Britain's farming community, still reeling from a foot and mouth outbreak in 2001, that the disease can be isolated.

However, it will cause consternation in the scientific community that a highly infectious pathogen, carried on the wind, can escape from a high-security laboratory site.

The foot and mouth crisis six years ago devastated British farming, with more than 6 million animals culled and countrywide tourism affected, at a cost of 8.5 billion pounds (17 billion dollars).

The previous government, led by Tony Blair, was regarded as slow to react then and was strongly criticised. This time, officials responded more rapidly.

The European Commission said it had banned all live animal exports from Britain, as well as meat and dairy products from the infected area. Further restrictions could be brought in after EU vets meet on Wednesday.

Depending on how long the ban remains in place, the impact on British agriculture could be profound. Industry experts said British exports of livestock and meat were worth about 15 million pounds (30 million dollars) a week.

REUTERS RSA RN1916