By KUNA,
London : Security at British laboratories handling some of the world’s most deadly diseases is being put at risk by poor maintenance and under-investment, MPs warned Wednesday.
The House of Commons Innovation, Universities, Science and Skills Committee said there was a risk of another “devastating” leak like last year’s foot and mouth escape from the animal health facility in Pirbright, Surrey, outside London, unless biosecurity was taken more seriously. The committee singled out the “ageing” UK Health Protection Agency laboratories at Porton Down in Wiltshire, southern England, where it described the conditions as “not acceptable”.
It called for the appointment of a single Government minister to take responsibility for the co-ordination of biosecurity measures and the provision of “high containment” laboratories.
In all, there are ten sites in the UK working with the most dangerous pathogens, classified as “CL4”, with a further 600 operating at the next level down with “CL3” pathogens.
The committee said that while some facilities were world-class, others had been neglected and were in need of significant investment.
“The costs to human or animal health and to the economy of a breach of biosecurity at a high containment laboratory are devastating, as seen at Pirbright in 2007″, it said.
The committee also called for improved vetting of staff working at high containment laboratories.
‘Security-vetting is intended to minimise the risks of deliberate misuse of dangerous pathogenic material”, it said.
“We therefore recommend that the Government provide access to government vetting programmes so that all those working with CL4 pathogens can be reliably security vetted to a consistent, high standard”, the committee added.