Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Potential mad cows that entered food supply without being tested for BSE 2011: UK END OF YEAR REVIEW

Potential mad cows that entered food supply without being tested for BSE 2011: UK END OF YEAR REVIEW




Bullock aged over 72 months enters food supply without being tested for BSE

Wednesday 21 December 2011

The Agency has been notified that meat has entered the food supply from a bullock aged over 72 months that had not been tested for BSE. A negative BSE test result is mandatory for cattle slaughtered for human consumption at over 72 months of age.

It is very unlikely that the bullock was infected with BSE and, as specified risk material (SRM) was removed, any risk to human health is extremely low. SRM is the parts of cattle most likely to carry BSE infectivity.

The bullock, aged 75 months and 28 days, was slaughtered at N Bramall & Son Ltd’s abattoir in Oxspring, Nr Sheffield, on 6 October 2011. The error was discovered on 1 December in the course of routine cross-checks of slaughter and BSE test data.

According to BSE regulations, the untested bullock, plus the one slaughtered before and the two after, should not have entered the food supply. However, by the time the failure was discovered, the associated carcasses had left the premises.

One of the carcasses was sent to the Netherlands where the authorities have been informed. The hearts and cheek meat from all the associated carcasses were traced and have since been destroyed. Other checks indicate that the rest of the meat from the carcasses is either no longer in the food supply or traceable and is likely to have been eaten.

http://www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2011/dec/bullockfoodchain



Bullock aged over 72 months enters food supply without being tested for BSE

Monday 14 November 2011

The Agency has been notified that meat has entered the food supply from a bullock aged over 72 months that had not been tested for BSE. A negative BSE test result is mandatory for cattle slaughtered for human consumption at more than 72 months of age. It is very unlikely that the bullock was infected with BSE and as specified risk material (SRM) was removed, any risk to human health is extremely low. SRM is the parts of cattle most likely to carry BSE infectivity.

The bullock, aged 75 months and 7 days, was slaughtered at C&S Meats Ltd’s abattoir in Dorset, on 2 September 2011. The error was discovered on 27 October in the course of routine cross-checks of slaughter and BSE test data. According to BSE regulations, the untested bullock, plus the one slaughtered before should not have entered the food supply. However, by the time the failure was discovered, the associated carcasses had left the premises. Subsequent checks traced a 20kg piece of meat from the untested bullock that has since been destroyed and indicate that the rest of the meat from the carcasses is no longer in the food supply.

http://www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2011/nov/csmeats


Cow aged over 72 months enters food supply without being tested for BSE

Wednesday 26 October 2011

The Agency has been notified that meat has entered the food supply from a cow aged over 72 months that had not been tested for BSE. A negative BSE test result is mandatory for cattle slaughtered for human consumption at over 72 months of age. It is very unlikely that the cow was infected with BSE and as specified risk material (SRM) was removed, any risk to human health is extremely low. SRM is the parts of cattle most likely to carry BSE infectivity.

The cow, aged 74 months and 11 days, was slaughtered at Anglo Dutch Meats (Charing) Ltd’s abattoir in Kent, on 11 August 2011. The error was discovered on 6 October in the course of routine cross-checks of slaughter and BSE test data. According to BSE regulations, the untested cow, plus the one slaughtered before and the two after should not have entered the food supply. However, by the time the failure was discovered, the associated carcases had left the premises. Subsequent checks indicate that the meat from the carcases was mixed with a large volume of other meat which is no longer in the food supply and is likely to have been eaten.

http://www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2011/oct/anglodutch


Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Bull aged over 48 months enters food supply without being tested for BSE Monday 18 April 2011

Bull aged over 48 months enters food supply without being tested for BSE Monday 18 April 2011

The Agency has been notified that meat has entered the food supply from a bull aged over 48 months that had not been tested for BSE. A negative BSE test result is mandatory for cattle slaughtered for human consumption at over 48 months of age.

It is very unlikely that the bull was infected with BSE and as specified risk material (SRM) was removed, any risk to human health is extremely low. SRM is that part of the animal most likely to contain BSE infectivity.

The bull, aged 88 months, was slaughtered at S J Norman & Sons’ abattoir in Bridport, Dorset on 3 February 2011. The error was discovered on 5 April in the course of routine cross-checks of slaughter and BSE test data.

According to BSE regulations, the untested bull should not have entered the food supply. However, by the time the failure was discovered, the carcass had left the premises.

Subsequent checks indicate that all the meat from the carcass is no longer traceable and is likely to have been eaten.

http://www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2011/apr/otmbull


Imported cow aged over 30 months not tested for BSE

Wednesday 16 February 2011

The Agency has been notified that meat has entered the food supply from an Over Thirty Month (OTM) cow imported from Switzerland that had not been tested for BSE.It is very unlikely that the cow was infected with BSE and, as specified risk material (SRM) was removed, any risk to human health is extremely low.

SRM is those parts of an animal likely to be infected if the animal has BSE.Nevertheless, according to BSE regulations the untested cow, the one slaughtered before and the two slaughtered after must not enter the food supply. Negative BSE test results were received for the 'one before' and 'two after'.

The cow had been imported into the UK in December 2009 and was slaughtered at William Taylor & Son Ltd's abattoir in Bamber Bridge, near Preston, on 15 October 2010 at just over 41 months of age.

BSE testing is mandatory for cattle born in Switzerland if slaughtered for human consumption at over 30 months of age. The missing BSE test result was discovered on 17 November during routine cross checks of slaughter and BSE test data. By the time the failure was discovered, all of the associated carcasses had left the premises.

The Agency has established that the carcase of the Swiss-born bovine was sold as fresh meat and is likely to have been eaten. We also traced the batch of carcases that included the 'one before' and 'two after'. This showed that:

the majority of the meat was no longer in the food supply and is likely to have been eaten a small portion of the batch was found in cold storage and has since been destroyed a small portion of the batch was mixed with a large quantity of meat from other batches and used in Iceland's own brand 1.4kg steak pies with 'best before' dates of 23.11.11 and 26.11.11.

Although any food safety risk from consuming these pies would be extremely low, Iceland has taken the decision to withdraw the affected pies from sale some had been exported to Ireland and the authorities there have been informed.

http://www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2011/feb/otm160211


Food Standards Agency - 31 Jan 2011 11:53


Two cows aged over 48 months enter food supply without being tested for BSE


The Agency has been notified that meat has entered the food supply from two cows aged over 48 months that had not been tested for BSE. A negative BSE test result is mandatory for cattle slaughtered for human consumption at over 48 months of age.

It is very unlikely that the cows were infected with BSE and as specified risk material was removed, any risk to human health is extremely low.

One of the cows was just under 52 months of age and the other just over 52 months of age when slaughtered on 2 November 2010 at J V Richards (Reitfontein) Ltd’s abattoir in Truro. The error was discovered on 10 January in the course of routine cross-checks of slaughter and BSE test data.

According to BSE regulations, both the untested cows and the one slaughtered before them should not have entered the food supply. However, by the time the failure was discovered, all three associated carcasses had left the premises.

Subsequent checks indicate that all the meat from the carcasses is no longer in the food supply chain and is likely to have been eaten.


http://www.wired-gov.net/wg/wg-news-1.nsf/lfi/DNWA-8DMFY9




BSE controls explained: Main controls on production

http://www.food.gov.uk/safereating/animaldiseases/bse/what/beef/controls




Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Atypical prion proteins and IBNC in cattle DEFRA project code SE1796 FOIA Final report

http://bse-atypical.blogspot.com/2010/07/atypical-prion-proteins-and-ibnc-in.html


Tuesday, November 02, 2010

BSE - ATYPICAL LESION DISTRIBUTION (RBSE 92-21367) statutory (obex only) diagnostic criteria CVL 1992

http://bse-atypical.blogspot.com/2010/11/bse-atypical-lesion-distribution-rbse.html




EFSA Journal 2011 The European Response to BSE: A Success Story

This is an interesting editorial about the Mad Cow Disease debacle, and it's ramifications that will continue to play out for decades to come ;

Monday, October 10, 2011

EFSA Journal 2011 The European Response to BSE: A Success Story

snip...

EFSA and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) recently delivered a scientific opinion on any possible epidemiological or molecular association between TSEs in animals and humans (EFSA Panel on Biological Hazards (BIOHAZ) and ECDC, 2011). This opinion confirmed Classical BSE prions as the only TSE agents demonstrated to be zoonotic so far but the possibility that a small proportion of human cases so far classified as "sporadic" CJD are of zoonotic origin could not be excluded. Moreover, transmission experiments to non-human primates suggest that some TSE agents in addition to Classical BSE prions in cattle (namely L-type Atypical BSE, Classical BSE in sheep, transmissible mink encephalopathy (TME) and chronic wasting disease (CWD) agents) might have zoonotic potential.

snip... http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/efsajournal/pub/e991.htm?emt=1


http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/efsajournal/doc/e991.pdf



see follow-up here about North America BSE Mad Cow TSE prion risk factors, and the ever emerging strains of Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy in many species here in the USA, including humans ;

http://transmissiblespongiformencephalopathy.blogspot.com/2011/10/efsa-journal-2011-european-response-to.html


Saturday, November 19, 2011

Novel Prion Protein in BSE-affected Cattle, Switzerland

http://transmissiblespongiformencephalopathy.blogspot.com/2011/11/novel-prion-protein-in-bse-affected.html




Saturday, December 3, 2011


Isolation of Prion with BSE Properties from Farmed Goat

Volume 17, Number 12—December 2011

http://transmissiblespongiformencephalopathy.blogspot.com/2011/12/isolation-of-prion-with-bse-properties.html




Saturday, June 25, 2011

Transmissibility of BSE-L and Cattle-Adapted TME Prion Strain to Cynomolgus Macaque

"BSE-L in North America may have existed for decades"

http://transmissiblespongiformencephalopathy.blogspot.com/2011/06/transmissibility-of-bse-l-and-cattle.html


Over the next 8-10 weeks, approximately 40% of all the adult mink on the farm died from TME.

snip...

The rancher was a ''dead stock'' feeder using mostly (>95%) downer or dead dairy cattle...



http://web.archive.org/web/20030516051623/http://www.bseinquiry.gov.uk/files/mb/m09/tab05.pdf



2010-2011

When L-type BSE was inoculated into ovine transgenic mice and Syrian hamster the resulting molecular fingerprint had changed, either in the first or a subsequent passage, from L-type into C-type BSE. In addition, non-human primates are specifically susceptible for atypical BSE as demonstrated by an approximately 50% shortened incubation time for L-type BSE as compared to C-type. Considering the current scientific information available, it cannot be assumed that these different BSE types pose the same human health risks as C-type BSE or that these risks are mitigated by the same protective measures.

This study will contribute to a correct definition of specified risk material (SRM) in atypical BSE. The incumbent of this position will develop new and transfer existing, ultra-sensitive methods for the detection of atypical BSE in tissue of experimentally infected cattle.

http://www.prionetcanada.ca/detail.aspx?menu=5&dt=293380&app=93&cat1=387&tp=20&lk=no&cat2


2011 Monday, September 26, 2011

L-BSE BASE prion and atypical sporadic CJD

http://bse-atypical.blogspot.com/2011/09/l-bse-base-prion-and-atypical-sporadic.html


SEE RISE OF SPORADIC CJD YEAR TO YEAR ;

http://www.cjd.ed.ac.uk/figures.htm




Sunday, December 18, 2011

A blood test for variant Creutzfeldt‐Jakob disease: briefing note for patients, carers and health professionals

http://vcjdtransfusion.blogspot.com/2011/12/blood-test-for-variant-creutzfeldtjakob.html



TSS