Biolab Breakdown Caused Cattle Outbreak (Updated)

In the United Kingdom, fresh fears over a new outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease have steered investigators to point to an unusual source - a pair of government-run laboratories run by the Big Pharma company Merck & Co. You might remember the name "Merck" as one of the primary midwives of the U.S. biological warfare program in the early 1940s - but that's just a coincidence, I'm sure. From the NY Times:

There is a “strong probability” that the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in Britain was caused by viruses that escaped somehow from a pair of veterinary laboratories where vaccines are made, a government report said today.

*The disease was found in cattle on a second farm in southern England today, and 102 animals from that farm were slaughtered, British agricultural officials said. *

*That farm, and the first farm where the disease was confirmed, are both within a few miles of the laboratories, the government-run
Institute of Animal Health and Merial Animal Health, a commercial facility run by a subsidiary of Merck & Co., the American pharmaceutical maker. *

The report, issued by the British government’s Health and Safety
Executive, found a “negligible” chance that the virus had been released from the labs by becoming airborne, or that recent flooding in the area had led to the release. Human movement or waterborne release unrelated to the flooding remained possibilities and were still being investigated, the report said.

The UK was devastated by this same disease in 2001. So you'd think that the meat industry would want to do something about its recurrence. In fact, there is a vaccine for the animals, but the European Union would knock the UK for not being "a foot-and-mouth-free country and hamper its exports." That would cost them a six-month ban on exporting British meat. Huh? I guess you'd want to research that virus, then, but isn't a short-term loss preferable to the alternative? I don't get the logic.

A reader asked Noah whether the increased funding for biodefense/biosecurity/biopreparedness, which has spurred all these new laboratories, isn't going to just increase the possibility of similar accidents.
Maybe so. But in this particular case, I'd like to point out that the government report hasn't made that determination, yet.

There is, however, always the human element. "What's that on my shoe? Oh, probably nothing. Time for a pint at the pub." Yes, we do need someone to keep a close eye on these labs; the regulations are pretty tight but oversight makes everyone honest. I think the odds of accidents of a significant magnitude occurring are pretty low -- although there have been a bunch of smaller-scale mishaps. But ask me that question again about my confidence in government laboratories in 28 days...

UPDATE: "The punchline," David Hambling says, "is that the 300,000 doses of vaccine will come from Merial -- the site of the outbreak."

ALSO:

* Bioweapons Lab Breakdown; Infected Workers Not Cleared for Duty
* Time to Evacuate Northern California

* CDC Shuts Down Bioweapons Lab After Infections