Institute for Animal Health celebrates its
50th anniversary as the World Reference Laboratory for
foot-and-mouth disease
The Royal Society is the venue for a celebration of
the Institute for Animal Health’s (IAH) Pirbright Laboratory as the United
Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation Reference Laboratory for
foot-and-mouth disease (FMD).
The one-day symposium, on Friday 9th May,
features speakers from Belgium, Germany, Italy, South Africa, and Spain in
addition to the universities of Cambridge, Edinburgh and Oxford, and
IAH.
The theme of the symposium is tracking the emergence
and global spread of FMD. The significance of the disease has been exacerbated
by the globalisation of trade, the rapid growth and intensification of livestock
keeping (especially in countries where FMD is chronic), and the threat of
bioterrorist attacks.
The first scientific talk will be given by Nick
Knowles of IAH, who compares the gene sequences of new isolates of the virus
with his ever-expanding database of FMD sequences from around the globe. In this
way he can track FMD viruses as they spread not only within countries but also
across national boundaries, indeed continents.
“IAH Pirbright’s contribution to the control of FMD
in some developing countries, where the disease is continually present, is part
philanthropy, part enlightened self-interest on the part of the UK,” said Dr
David Paton, Head of the FMD Reference Laboratory. “Diminishing FMD overseas
reduces the chances of it being imported into the UK and neighbouring European
countries.”
ENDS
For more information contact Dr Dave Cavanagh at the
Institute for Animal Health’s press office: mobile 07789 941568 (message can be
recorded); office 01635 577241 (message can be recorded); dave.cavanagh@bbsrc.ac.uk.
NOTES FOR EDITORS
You can see a record of the activities of the FMD
World Reference Laboratory, produced by the Institute for Animal Health,
at http://www.wrlfmd.org/.
More about FMD can be seen at the website of the
FMD/Classical Swine Fever Coordination Action, hosted by the Institute for
Animal Health; http://www.fmd-and-csf-action.org/. This is an EU-funded project for better coordination and
collaboration amongst national and international animal health organisations in
respect of these two devastating diseases.
Staff of the FMD World Reference Laboratory and
other Reference Laboratories in IAH also providing training for
veterinarians from the UK and around the world: http://www.iah.ac.uk/events/index.shtml
The Institute for Animal Health is dedicated
to the study of infectious diseases in farm animals. It has two campuses:
Pirbright Laboratory (Pirbright, near Guildford, Surrey) and Compton Laboratory
(Compton, near Newbury, Berkshire).www.iah.ac.uk. The work of the many Reference Laboratories in the Institute
(listed below) is described at http://www.iah.ac.uk/ref_labs/index.shtml
IAH is one of five research institutes sponsored by
the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC;
www.bbsrc.ac.uk).
IAH Pirbright Laboratory provides nine world and
regional laboratories (Reference Laboratories) for major diseases of farm
animals, on behalf of:
World Reference Laboratory of the UN’s Food and
Agriculture Organisation (FAO)
Regional Reference Laboratory of the OIE (World
Organisation for Animal Health
Community Reference Laboratory of the EU
Each reference laboratory specialises in one type of
virus. A reference laboratory maintains a collection of viruses and
related reagents, and provides a diagnostic service.
Bluetongue: OIE, EU
African swine fever:
OIE
African horse sickness: OIE, EU
Foot-and-mouth disease: FAO, OIE, EU
Swine vesicular disease: OIE, EU
Lumpy skin disease: OIE
Sheep and goat pox: IE
Peste de petits ruminants: FAO,
OIE
Rinderpest: FAO, EU
Prof. David Cavanagh BSc, PhD, DSc
Head of
Corporate Affairs and Communication
Institute for
Animal Health
Fields of Fire witness accounts of 2001