02 September 2020
Media outlets in the Netherlands are reporting the detection of the polio virus in wastewater near a major vaccine manufacturing plant. The exact source of the leak has not yet been definitively identified, and it remains unknown whether any employees were exposed to the virus. The wastewater system where the virus was isolated also serves several other research centers.
Key Context:
- Bilthoven Biologicals: One of the world’s largest vaccine manufacturers, the company produces approximately half of the 60 million polio vaccine doses manufactured globally each year.
- Intravacc and RIVM: The site also houses the Intravacc research institute and the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), which contains a specialized polio laboratory.
The positive samples were collected on July 21. This incident follows similar past safety breaches, including one at a GSK plant in Belgium in 2014 and another at the Intravacc facility in the Netherlands in 2017.