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The centre is already undertaking clinical trials in what could be a world-first vaccine against Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever – a tick-borne virus with a case fatality rate of around 30 per cent. The virus is endemic in parts of Africa and Asia and has become an “emerging pathogen” in Europe, fueled in part by the spread of ticks. The UKHSA has increased surveillance of pathogens carried by vectors such as ticks and mosquitoes in recent years as average temperatures have climbed. “The risks are growing around climate change and urbanisation,” Prof Dame Jenny Harries, the UKHSA chief executive, told the Telegraph. She added: “As well as building on the legacy of the pandemic caused by Covid-19, VDEC will target a wide range of other deadly viruses and pathogens, helping to secure the health and prosperity of the UK and saving lives around the world.”
The latest update of the UK National Risk Register, released by the Cabinet Office last week, judged another pandemic one of the highest risks in terms of both likelihood and impact. Experts say the new facility at Porton Down, set deep in Wiltshire’s countryside and one of the most closely guarded pieces of land in Britain, is a reaction to that. “VDEC will play a vital role in delivering the 100 Days Mission, an important initiative to make sure the world is better prepared for the next pandemic by accelerating the development of diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines so that we can control new threats before they have the impact that Covid-19 has had,” said Professor Isabel Oliver, Chief Scientific Officer, UKHSA. The new unit at Porton Down holds samples of some of the most deadly pathogens and has several “Level Four” laboratories – the highest security category. Only twenty of the UKHSA’s scientists have clearance to work in these facilities. Chain-link fences topped with barbed wire mark its perimeter, while CCTV cameras cover every angle inside and out. The walls are sterile and white, and marked with red hazard signs. Clad in gowns and gauntlets, dozens of scientists were working across the centre’s air tight facilities when the Telegraph visited last week. It was the same team who last February sequenced the samples of 800 contacts of three patients who were discovered with Lassa Fever in the UK. The haemorrhagic fever was imported from West Africa, killing one of the three patients – a newborn baby. The outbreak was contained, but Porton Down scientists warn the arenavirus family of viruses in which Lassa sits have “pandemic potential”. The team is working to create tests or “assays” for a range of arenaviruses for use in diagnosis, contact tracing and vaccine design in future outbreaks.
In a level three laboratory, we watched as scientists scan samples of XBB166, a new Covid-19 variant currently circulating in the UK. All of the machines in the lab are named after Star Wars characters, with photos of the likes of Qui-Gon Jinn and Luke Skywalker marking each one. It’s a way of relieving tension, it seems.
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https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/science-and-disease/porton-down-vaccine-facility-scientists-pandemic-disease-x/