AFP extension
ANNOUNCEMENTS•
The pharmaceutical company Bilthoven Biologicals is currently suspending production of its polio vaccine. This is being done at the insistence of the North Sea Canal Area Environment Agency.
The reason is an incident last month in which the polio virus was found in the sewers of the Utrecht Science Park in Bilthoven. That’s where the pharmaceutical company is located. A collegue he got infected and is in solitary confinement, as it turned out yesterday.
There has been a pattern of incidents with the polio virus over the past five years, according to the Environmental Service. The service said in a statement that “it is currently not sufficiently clear whether business operations and security are in order”.
The Environmental Service then asked the pharmaceutical company to immediately stop all activities involving the polio virus. It is unclear when production will resume. The causes of accidents should also be investigated.
Health Minister Kuipers has long wanted requirements for companies working with the polio virus to become stricter. He is therefore working on a new law, which should be ready in the first quarter of next year.
The risk of further spread is estimated by RIVM to be practically nil, also thanks to the good sewage system in the Netherlands. Polio no longer occurs in the Netherlands, thanks to a large-scale vaccination campaign. Before vaccinations were introduced, polio was more common.
