DESPITE all the media hype, it seems foot and mouth disease has not infected
any people in Britain after all. Of the 13 people screened for the disease so
far, all have tested negative.
Last week the highly publicised case of Paul Stamper, a slaughterman who
developed blisters in his mouth after being sprayed with fluid from a carcass,
prompted a national health scare. One newspaper even called for such people to
be quarantined. But Stamper has tested negative.
He and the 12 other people suspected of having FMD were tested by using a
technique called PCR to look for viral RNA in samples from blisters, throat
swabs or faeces. The negative results mean that there is very little chance that
any of them are infected, although two more people have yet to be tested. 鈥淲e鈥檙e
satisfied that the test is very sensitive and specific,鈥� says David Brown of
Britain鈥檚 Public Health Laboratory Service.
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To be on the safe side, officials will also test the patients for antibodies
to the virus. This can only be done two weeks after people might have been
infected, when the body has had a chance to mount an immune response.
To date, there has only ever been one confirmed case of a human catching FMD
in Britain. A farm machinery salesman developed symptoms of the disease during
the 1967 outbreak, after drinking unpasteurised milk.
Worldwide, only about 40 human cases of FMD have ever been confirmed. Those
infected suffered only mild symptoms and all made a full recovery. There is no
evidence that the disease has ever spread from person to person.
FMD should not be confused with hand, foot and mouth disease, an illness
common among children, say officials. Despite the names, the diseases are not
related.