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Gulf vaccine fax was lost by MoD officials

A FAX from the Health Department warning of the dangers of giving Gulf War troops a mixture of anthrax and whooping cough vaccines was sent to defence officials in 1990 but not discovered by ministers until May this year.

The revelation of another incident in which MoD civil servants failed to pass vital information to ministers was revealed yesterday by John Reid, the Armed Forces Minister. He said that the Health Department document gave a warning that mice given both vaccines at the National Institute of Biological Standards and Control had suffered "serious loss of condition and weight".

The discovery has added to suspicions among the 1,500 Gulf War veterans that the combination of vaccines and anti-nerve-gas tablets may have contributed towards the debilitating diseases from which many suffer.

Disciplinary investigations are being held at the MoD over four civil servants and a number of military officers accused of failing to inform Nicholas Soames, the previous Armed Forces Minister, that there had been widespread spraying of toxic organophosphate pesticides on British military tents in the Gulf.

Dr Reid told the first meeting of the Commons Defence Select Committee since the election that another investigation was under way to discover who ignored the warning from the Health Department. Defence ministers who approved the vaccines were unaware of the advice.

The Health Department was particularly concerned about the use of pertussis, or whooping cough, vaccine to accelerate the protective qualities of the anthrax vaccine, which normally takes months to become effective.

Edgar Buckley, Assistant Under-Secretary (Home and Overseas) at the MoD, told MPs on the defence committee that the warning had been seen by officials in 1990 before the American-led coalition began its campaign to oust Iraqi forces from Kuwait. Ministers were not told. The warning was not part of the "corporate memory" when investigations began into allegations that former troops were suffering from so-called Gulf War syndrome Dr Buckley said.

Dr Reid told the committee that by October, when the Commons returned from its summer break, he expected to have a full explanation of the scientific basis on which the various medical counter-measures were used, including the reservations expressed by the Health Department. He hoped this would remove the distrust of the MoD by the veterans.

He confirmed that Britain was examining whether its troops were affected by the plume of nerve gas which could have travelled up to 300km from a bombed Iraqi chemical weapons plant, according to an assessment published last week by the Pentagon.

More detailed work would begin when the final computerised data from the Pentagon was received within the next few weeks. When the units within the suspected Sarin gas cloud were pinpointed, troops would be asked about their health and if they wanted to take part in the MoD's Gulf medical assessment programme.

Asked about compensation for Gulf troops, Dr Reid said it was not possible at present because neither the cause nor the effect had been scientifically defined and consequently no negligence could be proved.

However, about 1,300 veterans were receiving war pensions, although they did not include most of those threatening to take legal action against the MoD. Post-traumatic stress had been diagnosed in 300 ex-servicemen who were receiving war pensions.