2007 United Kingdom Foot-and-mouth Outbreak - First Outbreak

First Outbreak

Symptoms were first reported late on 2 August 2007 on farmland located in Normandy in Surrey, which was subsequently isolated and placed under restrictions. The following day the Chief Veterinary Officer (CVO) Debby Reynolds confirmed that initial testing revealed that 60 cattle were infected with foot-and-mouth disease and that other potential cases were being investigated.

On the 4 August the virus was identified as the FMDV BFS 1860 O₁ 1967 (Foot-and-Mouth Disease Virus, British Field Strain 1860, serotype O, subtype 1, isolated in 1967; also referred to as strain BFS 1860/UK/67 ), a virus isolated in the 1967 outbreak and until the 2007 outbreak, not in circulation in animals. It was the same strain as used at the nearby Pirbright laboratory site, which houses separate units of the Institute for Animal Health and Merial Animal Health Ltd at Pirbright, 2+1⁄₂ miles (4.0 km) away, which was identified as a possible source of infection, as it is one of only four European laboratories authorised to handle that strain of the virus to produce vaccines, the next nearest being in Belgium. As a result the isolation zone was extended.

The laboratory carries out research into foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) as well as other diseases affecting livestock.

On 5 August another protection zone was created near Elstead after a cow at one of the two other locations used by the farm tested positive. The herd at both locations had already been slaughtered the previous day as a standard precautionary measure.

On 6 August another herd within one of the protection zones showing symptoms of FMD was slaughtered on suspicion. Samples underwent analysis and on 7 August FMD was confirmed on a farm in Surrey within the protection zone. The cows were on land owned by farmer Lawrence Matthews who rented grazing to a neighbouring producer.

On 7 August the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) issued a report - "Initial report on potential breaches to biosecurity at the Pirbright site, 2007" which contained the following comments –

"Subject to the ongoing work detailed above, the indications are that there is a strong probability that the FMDV strain involved in the farm outbreak originated from the IAH or the Merial sites."

"We are further exploring the meteorological data, but at this stage, we consider there to be a negligible combined likelihood that there was an airborne release from the IAH or the Merial sites which was subsequently transferred to the first affected farm between the 14 and 25 July 2007."

"Waterborne release onto the site remains a possibility. But preliminary investigations into the possibility of whether surface water from flooding from the site could have reached and contaminated the affected farm have indicated that this was negligible due to the distance, topography and direction of flow. These issues are being investigated further."

"Release by human movement must also be considered a real possibility. Further investigation of the above issues is required and is being urgently pursued."

The Pirbright site has been the source of foot and mouth outbreaks before - in 1970 the virus escaped from the experimental area into a holding pen elsewhere on the site. 18 animals had to be destroyed.

On 9 August, a farmer who let the land at the site of the second outbreak reported some cows on his own farm to DEFRA as a precautionary measure. A 3 km Temporary Control Zone was established, and then removed, on August 11 when negative test results were returned.

Three further potential outbreaks were investigated during August, at a farm elsewhere in Surrey; at the Chessington World of Adventures zoo; and at a farm near Romney in Kent. All three tested negative for foot and mouth.

On 24 August, following a lack of further outbreaks since the initial discovery, Defra lifted the protection zones around the farms.

On 8 September the surveillance zone was removed. A 5 km radius Biosecurity Area remains in place around the Pirbright laboratories.