Lab to study animal-borne diseases

A national research laboratory dedicated to the study of animal diseases which spread to humans is being opened.

Scientists will study bird flu, the Sars virus and rabies at the £1.68 million National Centre for Zoonosis Research.

The centre, part of the University of Liverpool, will examine how the deadly diseases which originate in animals can jump species and infect humans.

Professor Malcolm Bennett, veterinary pathologist and co-director of the centre, said: "Diseases such as Sars and avian flu are examples of new and emerging zoonotic diseases that hit the headlines, but around two-thirds of all human infections are transmitted from animals, and some of these can be very serious.

"Rabies, for example, still kills more than 50,000 people every year, mainly in developing countries, while, closer to home, most cases of food poisoning are also caused by zoonoses."

The centre, in Neston, Cheshire, will be opened by former politician Lord David Owen, Chancellor of the University of Liverpool, and Lord Lawson Soulsby, former president of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons.

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