LONDON, Aug. 25 -- The government of the United Kingdom issued the following news:
The Animal and Plant Health Agency'slaboratoryin Weybridge is now undertaking bluetongue sample testing to support the increasing amount of testingrequiredby the unprecedented scale of the outbreak. Testing is being undertaken in close collaboration with the National Reference Laboratory for bluetongue, The Pirbright Institute. This aims to speed up the process of providing bluetongue test results.
APHAleads the response to disease outbreak for all animal diseases affecting the UK andis anInternationalReferenceLaboratoryfor18 major animal diseases including Avian Influenza and Rabies, and a National Reference Laboratory for49diseases including Salmonella and bovine TB. APHA already has high containment animal pathogen laboratories built to handle serious livestock and animal diseases classified under containment level 3 of the UK's Specified Animal Pathogens Order (SAPO).Part of APHA'sdisease response planningis to be able to rampup testingduring an outbreaklike this, to supportthe national response.
Samples should continue to be submitted to The Pirbright Institute. To enable efficient processing, submission forms must be attached securely on the outside of the parcel so that samples which are diverted to Weybridge can be rapidly booked into the digital sample handling system without the need to take the parcel inside the high containment laboratory. Results of bluetongue samples tested will continue to be reported in the same way.
BothThePirbrightInstituteand APHA Weybridge laboratories continue to test samples for other exotic notifiable diseases,and keepers should continue to report any suspicion ofotherexoticnotifiablediseasesto APHA. Anysamplessubmittedwill be rapidly tested and the laboratories are ready toensureany future exotic disease incursionsare managedappropriately.
Longer term,thegovernmentisinvesting over £1 billion to transform the existing laboratoryfacilities atWeybridgeand tobuild a National Biosecurity Centre (NBC). This new state of the art science hub will serve as the UK'sforemost animal biosecurity facility, providing 'end to end' capability from prevention and research to outbreak response. It will support the future of world-leading animal health science in the UK, protecting the nation from the increasing threat of animal and zoonotic diseases (diseases that pass from animals to humans). The investment in NBC assures trade in animal products worth an estimated£16 billion a year to the UK economy.
Bluetonguetestresults reported fromAPHA will state 'BTV' and The Pirbright Institute reports will state 'BTV-3'. Whichever you receive, a positive result emailed directly can be assumed to be BTV-3. Tests are being undertaken for other serotypeswhere necessary, and ifthey aredetected then confirmatory testing will beperformedbefore disease confirmation and reporting through APHA.
Further information:
* Bluetongue: latest situation
* Bluetongue: how to spot and report it
Disclaimer: Curated by HT Syndication.
