Could a scientist have scratched his nose and then unwittingly have triggered the foot and mouth outbreak?

A scratch of the nose and the virus is out - Telegraph

Extract:

"A scientist simply scratching his nose while working with the foot and mouth virus could have been the trigger for the present disease outbreak, a biosecurity expert said yesterday.

Human error is now thought to be the most likely cause of the spread of the disease as investigators try to pinpoint the source of the leak.

All attention is focused on Merial, the private company which shares the Pirbright laboratory complex with the Government-sponsored Institute for Animal Health.

It is feared that gloves or clothes used by workers in the facility may not have been decontaminated properly.

There are also concerns that the virus could have escaped into the laboratory's drainage system and then into storm water caused by flooding which employees inadvertently walked through.

The Health and Safety Executive has all but ruled out initial fears that a faulty filtering system propelled the virus into the atmosphere.

Keith Plum, who has worked as a chartered chemical engineer for 25 years and is involved in the design of biosecure facilities, said humans were a dangerous link in the chain."