Foot and mouth leak found in Britain

LONDON, Nov. 22 (UPI) -- An industrial leak of foot and mouth disease was found in the English village of Pilbright, the same place an outbreak of the virus occurred mere months before.

Environment Secretary Hilary Benn said Thursday that the recent outbreak in the county of Surrey had been contained inside a local drainage pipe, keeping area farms free from possible infection, The Daily Telegraph reported.

The outbreak three months ago was estimated to have cost the farming industry more than $206 million.

Benn said that the virus leak occurred at the private pharmaceutical firm Merial due to a malfunctioning valve, but the site's security precautions prevented another outbreak.

"The inspection team judge that while it was possible live foot and mouth disease had entered the contained drainage system, from their discussions and the evidence gathered they are assured that live virus has not been released to the environment," Benn said

"The extensive layers of biosecurity that we require under the license effectively contained the virus in the closed, re-lined drainage system before deactivation in the chemical treatment facility."