A lack of government investment in an animal disease lab is a threat to safety, a report says.
The UK's main facility for dealing with viruses that jump from animals to humans has been left to "deteriorate to an alarming extent," according to MPs.
The Public Accounts Committee found more than "1,000 single points of failure" at the Weybridge site. Committee chairwoman Dame Meg Hillier said: "After the 2001 disaster of foot and mouth disease, the past decades have brought one animal-sourced disease after another. "Weybridge has always been a central resource of facilities and people. It has been placed in a perilous position by underfunding and crumbling facilities," he said. "Without support it is increasingly unlikely the UK could cope with another major outbreak of animal or zoonotic disease along with the ongoing avian influenza epidemic."the site, with the construction of a new science hub due to start in 2027. However the level of funding needed is still not finalised.
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