Monday, August 06, 2007

Foot and Mouth? Foot in Mouth...

You could argue that it's really rather sad that it takes an industry crisis to kickstart my blog again. Fair enough, actually. It is, frankly, a bit sad.

But that I suppose is in the nature of journalists. And as an ex-journalist, opportunities to put pen to paper (oh alright, fingers-to-keyboard-to-screen if you prefer) are getting thinner on the ground, so the blog comes into its own.

But I digress. (No change there, then.)

At the weekend, I was staying in a charming little place called Tilford Woods, not far from Flexford, as I have done for a couple of weekends just lately.

Flexford, as you may recall, is the site of the current outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in the UK.

Being a classic news junkie, and a bit starved of excitement lately because of this promotion to publishing, a promptly hopped in the car and high-tailed it down to Flexford where I mingled with agricultural and mainstream journalists all doing that rather incestuous thing where, in the absence of anyone else to interview, we more or less interview each other...

"Pirbirght?" I exclaimed airily on Saturday morning.... "Don't be daft. I'd bet my next paycheck it didn't come from Pirbright." And then I held forth about their fantastic biosecurity and wonderfully professional staff for a good ten minutes.

Ho hum.

That's my professional credibility down the drain then.

But you know, I still find it hard to believe. At the Institute for Animal Health and at Merial, the biosecurity measures are stringent and thorough. The staff are incredibly professional. At both facilities, everyone understands the consequences if a virus escapes. And it's in nobody's interest to alienate their own stakeholders.

From what I understand, it's clear now that there have been no obvious breaches of biosecurity. If I were responsible for the investigation from here onwards (and obviously I'm not), I would be asking myself not just "how could this happen?" but "why did this happen now?"

What's new?

What's changed?

What's different?

What else has happened recently that hasn't happened before?

And whatever the answers to those questions, that's where I'd start looking.

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