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News Archives

  

Volume 2 No 26; 27 June 2008

 

3.5million research programme to combat the threat of chemical terrorism

The Health Protection Agency and the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), an agency of the Ministry or Defence, are to collaborate on a major £3.5million research programme to combat the threat of chemical terrorism.

The collaboration will also involve the universities of Birmingham, Surrey and Cranfield as well as military establishments in France (Centre de Recherches du Service de Santé des Armées ), the Czech Republic (Faculty of Military Health Sciences),  the Swedish Defence Research Agency and the US Department of Defense.

HPA, Dstl and academic scientists will join forces to develop new and improved ways of protecting the public from the accidental or deliberate release of toxic substances. Research will focus on decontamination procedures relating to hazardous materials such as toxic chemical agents and toxic industrial chemicals. Work will initially concentrate on decontamination procedures for emergency services.

Scientists will investigate decontamination methods at specialist Dstl labs, which were designed to safely handle toxic chemicals. Scientists will also use harmless chemical simulants in disaster planning exercises to test emergency services' ability to respond to a chemical terrorist attack.

The initial three-year programme is being funded by the Department of Health and the Ministry of Defence in the UK, the US Department of Defense and the European Union's Health Programme.

New HPA guidance on post-flooding precautions

The HPA has published an updated and redesigned flooding section of its website [1], coinciding with publication of the Pitt Review, the final government report on last summer's floods [2].

The new or updated HPA information provides both precautionary advice for the public (on avoidance of risks to health in post-flooding situations) and more detailed guidance for health professionals and other specialists involved in protection of health of local communities.

The latter comprises eight guidance documents for professionals [3] including: advice to healthcare professionals (particularly focusing on control of microbiological and chemical risks); checklists for HPUs on responding to severe flooding; interim guidance for Health Protection Units on surveillance activities during floods; a chemical contamination risk assessment framework; and advice on the provision of support for communities during post-flooding cleanup operations.

The public information includes a new set of Frequently Asked Questions and three new leaflets covering post-flooding clean-ups, coping without mains water and other general advice [4].

The documents have been produced and quality assured through the cross-divisional Flood Coordination Group (FCG).

References

1. HPA flooding webpages: http://www.hpa.org.uk/flooding
2. The Pitt Review: Lessons learned from the 2007 floods, http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/thepittreview/final_report.aspx.
3. See HPA website Flooding Guidelines, http://www.hpa.org.uk/webw/HPAweb&Page&HPAwebAutoListName/Page/1213686564121?p=1213686564121. 4. See HPA website Flooding General Information, http://www.hpa.org.uk/webw/HPAweb&Page&HPAwebAutoListName/Page/1213686561915?p=1213686561915.

Cryptosporidium contamination incident in East Midlands

Extensive investigations are continuing in the East Midlands to determine the source of the Cryptosporidium contamination of drinking water supplies in the Northampton area that was identified by routine sampling earlier in the week. A Boiled Water Notice was issued by the water supplier, Anglian Water, to more than 100,000 premises following the identification of contamination by Cryptosporidium, which can cause diarrhoea. To date, there have been no confirmed cases of people being infected as a result of the incident but the notice is expected to remain in force for a number of weeks. 

As a precaution, the Health Protection Agency has written to all local GPs and hospitals in the region asking them to be vigilant for signs and symptoms of infection and to send faecal specimens for testing for those with diarrhoea. Although there have been no human cases linked to the contamination, cases might yet occur and local microbiology laboratories are continuing to examine all faecal samples for the parasite.

Further information

Boiling of drinking water, Northampton, Daventry and West of Daventry, Anglian Water website alert, http://www.anglianwater.co.uk/index.php?sectionid=135&contentid=878&parentid=0.