PROPOSED DECISION TO STOP BSE TESTING OF HEALTHY CATTLE SLAUGHTERED FOR
HUMAN CONSUMPTION
Food Standards Agency FSA 12/12/04 Open Board – 11 December 2012
david.carruthers@foodstandards.gsi.gov.uk
1 SUMMARY 1.1
The current system for monitoring Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) in
cattle includes BSE testing of all healthy cattle aged over 72 months
slaughtered for human consumption. The European Commission is proposing to allow
qualifying Member States (MS), including the UK, to decide to stop testing these
cattle. 1.2 The Board is recommended to agree to advise Ministers that it would
be acceptable on grounds of negligible risk to consumers and proportionality to
stop BSE testing of all healthy cattle aged over 72 months slaughtered for human
consumption in the UK.
snip...
Food Standards Agency FSA 12/12/04 Open Board – 11 December 2012 16
Annexe F
Ability of BSE test to detect different forms of BSE
1. Testing is carried out using approved commercial diagnostic tests for
the disease-specific, abnormal form of the prion protein (PrP). A sample of the
brainstem of the animal at the level of the obex is required to be used for the
test. Studies have established that in Classical BSE abnormal PrP deposition in
the brainstem first occurs at the obex level, where a substantial amount of this
protein accumulates during the late incubation phase. Consequently, as described
in the EFSA Report, targeting the obex for testing is considered to be the most
sensitive approach for detecting cases of Classical BSE.
*** 2. In relation to the two forms of atypical BSE (H and L types) that
have been reported, the EFSA Report points out that, while these conditions are
detectable by the current approved tests, a full evaluation of their performance
in detecting atypical BSE cases has not been carried out and the suitability of
the obex as the target tissue for early and sensitive detection of these
conditions remains largely unknown.
*** 3. The impact of stopping testing of healthy slaughtered cattle on the
ability of the monitoring system to detect the emergence of a hypothetical new
type of TSE disease in cattle is unknown, since the characteristics of any such
new TSE disease and whether the current testing system would detect it are
necessarily unknown. By definition, novel TSEs with forms of PrP substantially
different from the currently-recognised forms may evade the existing tests.
RCVS Response Consultation on BSE Testing
12 May 2011
53kb PDF
Joint consultation by Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs,
Welsh Assembly Government and Food Standards Agency on proposals for changes to
BSE testing of cattle slaughtered for human consumption 1. The following
response is made on behalf of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS).
The RCVS is the regulatory body for veterinary surgeons in the UK. The role of
the RCVS is to safeguard the health and welfare of animals committed to
veterinary care through the regulation of the education, and ethical and
clinical standards, of veterinary surgeons and nurses, thereby protecting the
interests of those dependent on animals, and assuring public health. It also
acts as an impartial source of informed opinion on relevant veterinary matters.
2. The RCVS considers that in relation to Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy
(BSE), monitoring and controlling the epidemic and protecting the public and
animals from exposure to the agents that cause BSE are of paramount importance.
Nevertheless, it is important that controls and testing regimes are appropriate
and proportionate to the current risks of the disease.
3. The RCVS commends the launch of this non-formal consultation before
adopting the proposed changes to BSE testing made possible by the amendment to
Commission Directive 719/2009/EC and the decision of Ministers to seek the
opinion of the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and independent expert advice of the
Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee (SEAC) on any potential risks
before adopting changes.
4. SEAC comprises experts at the forefront of Transmissible Spongiform
Encephalopathy (TSE) research and has provided independent expert scientific
advice to the Government in a transparent fashion for 20 years. The RCVS
therefore supports the recommendations and observations of SEAC in relation to
the proposed changes to the BSE testing of healthy cattle and strongly urges the
Government to take account of its views.
5. SEAC advises that in the short-term the additional risk to human health
of raising the age for the slaughter of healthy cattle to 72 months is
insignificant and notes that the Veterinary Laboratories Agency (VLA) modelling
concurs with the conclusion. In presenting their advice, however, SEAC sounds an
important note of caution: that such conclusions are only valid if the
prevalence of BSE in UK cattle continues to fall or remains the same and that
the validity of the analysis depends upon the quality of surveillance and its
ability to detect any re-emergence of the disease.
6. The RCVS therefore considers it imperative that the testing and
surveillance programme is kept under review and that measures are implemented to
ensure that the programme is capable of identifying any changes in BSE
prevalence. To this end, the RCVS considers that provision should be made for
the random testing of apparently healthy animals being slaughtered between the
ages of 48 months and 72 months to verify the science behind the new testing
regime and to ensure that health of the public is safeguarded appropriately. In
this regard, the RCVS also supports the proposal of SEAC that the VLA model
should be used ‘to examine a range of hypothetical rates of increase of BSE
infection and the ability of current surveillance measures to detect the
change’.
7. As SEAC notes, changes in the prevalence of BSE are most likely to be
detected in fallen stock and casualty animals. The RCVS therefore considers that
assessments should be made to ensure the adequacy and sensitivity of such
testing for identifying any emerging trends in BSE.
8. The RCVS regards the removal of Specified Risk Material (SRM) as the
primary means via which the public are protected from agents that cause BSE.
Whilst there are no proposals to change SRM measures, the RCVS wishes to express
its strong belief that current SRM measures should not be relaxed.
9. Given recent evidence of fraud relating to cattle that are found to be
TB test-positive and the Government’s moves to tackle this by requiring that DNA
tags are applied immediately to cattle that test positive for TB, the RCVS
considers that provisions need to be made to ensure that any fraud in relation
to BSE testing is tackled and that cattle over the age of 72 months are not
passed off as being younger at the time of slaughter. Such fraud could be
addressed by linking the passport and ear tag to some form of biological
indicator of age such as the ossification of the vertebrae or appropriate dental
changes.
10. If you require any clarification on the above comments, please do not
hesitate to contact me. Alternatively, representatives from the RCVS would be
happy to meet with you to discuss and expand upon our position
Anthony Roberts
RCVS Policy and Public Affairs Officer
Tuesday, November 02, 2010
BSE - ATYPICAL LESION DISTRIBUTION (RBSE 92-21367) statutory (obex only)
diagnostic criteria CVL 1992
Beckett admits BSE test blunder
Margaret Beckett last night admitted she blundered over how the Government
announced the news that scientists seeking evidence of BSE in sheep had actually
used cows' brains. The original statement about the bungled research failed to
explain one of the gravest errors ever made by Government scientists researching
the disease, and did not even mention the word 'cow'. As opposition MPs demanded
an explanation of how £217,000 had been wasted, the Environment, Food and Rural
Affairs Minister conceded that the way she had announced the mix-up was '
perhaps in error'. Mrs Beckett said: 'I gave instructions, perhaps in error,
that the statement drafted to explain what we knew - and that was a limited
amount - should be put into the public domain as soon as possible.' Shadow
Minister Peter Ainsworth said the handling of the publication of the error had
been 'despicable' and called on whoever made the decision to be sacked. Fingers
had pointed to Lucian Hudson, the Government's new Director of Communications,
who oversaw the release. But last night it emerged that Mrs Beckett had
overruled advisers and drafted a statement herself, and insisted it be released
late on Wednesday. A Whitehall insider said: 'She should have waited until the
morning and held a full specialist briefing. But she was nervous that the news
would leak and the department would look as if it had tried to cover something
up. News releases are never done by one person and scientists were consulted on
this one. But the wording was Mrs Beckett's own.' Mrs Beckett yesterday wrote to
Mr Ainsworth to 'set the record straight'. If she had not made the news
immediate, she said, his party would have 'accused me of trying to conceal the
information for as long as possible'. The Department for Environment, Food and
Rural Affairs (Defra) was first alerted to the error on Wednesday morning. A
Government laboratory had been sent a sample of the brains by the Institute of
Animal Health, which was carrying out the research, to ensure there was no
crosscontamination. There was horror when it appeared the scientists had been
studying cows' brains rather than sheep. There followed an afternoon briefing
with officials to inform them of the blunder, before Ministers were told in the
early evening. Mrs Beckett said: 'We immediately put in hand a scientific audit,
which people are carrying out this weekend, to try to find out what happened,
what went wrong and whether there's still anything to learn from the
experiment.' Government scientists have called for immediate new research into
the risks of eating British lamb, although the Food Standards Agency has not
changed its advice, which is that the risk of BSE in sheep 'remains
theoretical'. Last night Liberal Democrat agriculture spokesman Colin Breed
said: 'Mrs Beckett must now outline what she intends to do to allay fears about
potential BSE in sheep. She has some awkward questions to answer over Defra's
scientific policy.'
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Potential mad cows that entered food supply without being tested for BSE
2011: UK END OF YEAR REVIEW
Thursday, September 6, 2012
UK Breaches of BSE controls in consignments of beef 2011 communications
missing four reports
ATYPICAL BSE AND SPORADIC CJD NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2012
Dispatch
Transmission of New Bovine Prion to Mice
Thierry G.M. Baron* , Anne-Gaëlle Biacabe*, Anna Bencsik*, and Jan P.M.
Langeveld† Author affiliations: *Agence Française de Sécurité Sanitaire des
Aliments, Lyon, France; †Central Institute for Animal Disease Control, Lelystad,
the Netherlands
Abstract
We previously reported that cattle were affected by a prion disorder that
differed from bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) by showing distinct
molecular features of disease-associated protease-resistant prion protein
(PrPres). We show that intracerebral injection of such isolates into C57BL/6
mice produces a disease with preservation of PrPres molecular features distinct
from BSE.
Conclusions Our data show that the recently identified bovine H-type
isolates involve an infectious agent that can induce development of a disease
across a species barrier, while maintaining the specific associated PrPres
molecular signature. This evidence in favor of a new bovine prion strain in
cattle suggests that BSE is not the only transmissible prion disease in cattle.
The origin of such cases has not been determined (7). These cases suggest either
the existence of alternative origins of such diseases in cattle or phenotypic
changes of PrPres after infection with the BSE agent. However, based on analysis
of molecular features of prion diseases in cattle, this situation is similar to
that in humans (5), in which different subtypes of sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob
disease agents are found.
Dr Baron is head of the Unité Agents Transmissibles Non Conventionnels,
Agence Française de Sécurité Sanitaire des Aliments, in Lyon. His research
focuses on diagnosis of prion diseases of ruminants and characterization of the
disease-
associated prion protein and infectious agents, with particular emphasis on
atypical forms of these diseases.
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Transmission of New Bovine Prion to Mice, Atypical Scrapie, BSE, and
Sporadic CJD, November-December 2012 update
SPORADIC CJD RISING IN MANY COUNTRIES, INCLUDING THE U.K. ??? ZOONOSIS
???
SEE STEADY RISE OF SPORADIC CJD IN THE U.K. WHERE IN 1990, IT WENT FROM 28
SPORADIC CJD CASES, TO 2011, WITH A RECORD HIGH OF 90 CASES OF SPORADIC CJD, THE
MOST EVER DOCUMENTED IN ONE YEAR IN THE U.K. ...TSS
SEE STEADY RISE OF SPORADIC CJD IN THE U.S.A. WHERE IN 1996 AND BEFORE,
THERE WERE 28 CASES OF SPORADIC CJD, TO 2010, WITH A RECORD HIGH OF 216 CASES OF
SPORADIC CJD, THE MOST EVER DOCUMENTED IN ONE YEAR IN THE U.S.A., WITH 2011,
COMING IN A CLOSE SECOND, AT 214 CASES OF SPORADIC CJD, AND STILL COUNTING.
ALSO, MOST DISTURBING, IS THE TYPE DETERMINATION PENDING CLASSIFICATION OF CJD,
WHICH I CALL cpsCJD, ON THE RISE AS WELL, AND OF COURSE, THE INFAMOUS VPSPr
SPORADIC CJD, IS ALSO RISING, PLEASE SEE MORE BELOW ;
SEE ALSO CANADA WITH THE SAME SPORADIC TYPE CJD PROBLEMS, AND RISE THERE
FROM ;
3. Final classification of 48 cases from 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 is
pending.
Friday, November 23, 2012
sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease update As at 5th November 2012 UK, USA,
AND CANADA
Alternatively, other yet unknown routes of transmission or genetic
determinants must be considered. This said, H-type BSE might persist after
eradication of C-type BSE. What are the implications of this scenario? Studies
in mice provided experimental evidence that H-type BSE may shift its disease
phenotype to that of C-type BSE (3) upon transmission. It has therefore been
hypothesized that the C-type BSE epidemic originated from spontaneously
occurring H-type BSE cases. If this was the case there would be a constant risk
that C-type BSE re-emerges in the cattle population once the feed-ban is
discontinued. Consequently, some measures of disease control would need to be
maintained indefinitely. Since the standards for the determination of a
countries’ BSE risk status currently do not differentiate between BSE subtypes
(28), BSE risk assessments will certainly need to take such considerations into
account. This highlights the need for continuing research into the relationship
between classical and atypical BSE variants to provide the scientific basis for
future disease surveillance and control policies.
Saturday, October 6, 2012
TRANSMISSION, DIFFERENTIATION, AND PATHOBIOLOGY OF TRANSMISSIBLE SPONGIFORM
ENCEPHALOPATHIES 2011 Annual Report
Subject: Atypical BSE (BASE) Transmitted from Asymptomatic Aging Cattle to
a Primate
Atypical BSE (BASE) Transmitted from Asymptomatic Aging Cattle to a Primate
Emmanuel E. Comoy1*, Cristina Casalone2, Nathalie Lescoutra-Etchegaray1,
Gianluigi Zanusso3, Sophie Freire1, Dominique Marcé1, Frédéric Auvré1,
Marie-Magdeleine Ruchoux1, Sergio Ferrari3, Salvatore Monaco3, Nicole Salès4,
Maria Caramelli2, Philippe Leboulch1,5, Paul Brown1, Corinne I. Lasmézas4,
Jean-Philippe Deslys1
1 Institute of Emerging Diseases and Innovative Therapies, CEA,
Fontenay-aux-Roses, France, 2 Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del
Piemonte, Turin, Italy, 3 Policlinico G.B. Rossi, Verona, Italy, 4 Scripps
Florida, Jupiter, Florida, United States of America, 5 Genetics Division,
Brigham & Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts,
United States of America
Abstract
Human variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD) results from foodborne
transmission of prions from slaughtered cattle with classical Bovine Spongiform
Encephalopathy (cBSE). Atypical forms of BSE, which remain mostly asymptomatic
in aging cattle, were recently identified at slaughterhouses throughout Europe
and North America, raising a question about human susceptibility to these new
prion strains.
Methodology/Principal Findings
Brain homogenates from cattle with classical BSE and atypical (BASE)
infections were inoculated intracerebrally into cynomolgus monkeys (Macacca
fascicularis), a non-human primate model previously demonstrated to be
susceptible to the original strain of cBSE. The resulting diseases were compared
in terms of clinical signs, histology and biochemistry of the abnormal prion
protein (PrPres). The single monkey infected with BASE had a shorter survival,
and a different clinical evolution, histopathology, and prion protein (PrPres)
pattern than was observed for either classical BSE or vCJD-inoculated animals.
Also, the biochemical signature of PrPres in the BASE-inoculated animal was
found to have a higher proteinase K sensitivity of the octa-repeat region. We
found the same biochemical signature in three of four human patients with
sporadic CJD and an MM type 2 PrP genotype who lived in the same country as the
infected bovine.
Conclusion/Significance
Our results point to a possibly higher degree of pathogenicity of BASE
than classical BSE in primates and also raise a question about a possible link
to one uncommon subset of cases of apparently sporadic CJD. Thus, despite the
waning epidemic of classical BSE, *** the occurrence of atypical strains should
temper the urge to relax measures currently in place to protect public health
from accidental contamination by BSE-contaminated products.
Citation: Comoy EE, Casalone C, Lescoutra-Etchegaray N, Zanusso G, Freire
S, et al. (2008) Atypical BSE (BASE) Transmitted from Asymptomatic Aging Cattle
to a Primate. PLoS ONE 3(8): e3017. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0003017
Editor: Neil Mabbott, University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Received: April 24, 2008; Accepted: August 1, 2008; Published: August 20,
2008
Copyright: © 2008 Comoy et al. This is an open-access article distributed
under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits
unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the
original author and source are credited.
Funding: This work has been supported by the Network of Excellence
NeuroPrion.
Competing interests: CEA owns a patent covering the BSE diagnostic tests
commercialized by the company Bio-Rad.
* E-mail: emmanuel.comoy@cea.fr
snip...
In summary, we have transmitted one atypical form of BSE (BASE) to a
cynomolgus macaque monkey that had a shorter incubation period than monkeys
infected with classical BSE, with distinctive clinical, neuropathological, and
biochemical features; and have shown that the molecular biological signature
resembled that seen in a comparatively uncommon subtype of sporadic CJD. We
cannot yet say whether BASE is more pathogenic for primates (including humans)
than cBSE, nor can we predict whether its molecular biological features
represent a clue to one cause of apparently sporadic human CJD. However, the
evidence presented here and by others justifies concern about a potential human
health hazard from undetected atypical forms of BSE, and despite the waning
epizoonosis of classical BSE, it would be premature to abandon the precautionary
measures that have been so successful in reversing the impact of cBSE. We would
instead urge a gradual, staged reduction that takes into account the evolving
knowledge about atypical ruminant diseases, and both a permanent ban on the use
of bovine central nervous system tissue for either animal or human use, and its
destruction so as to eliminate any risk of environmental contamination.
Monday, July 9, 2012
Spread of Classic BSE Prions from the Gut via the Peripheral Nervous System
to the Brain
Study Finds "Mad Cow Disease" in Cattle Can Spread Widely in Autonomic
Nervous System before Detectable in the Central Nervous System
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Seven main threats for the future linked to prions
First threat
The TSE road map defining the evolution of European policy for protection
against prion diseases is based on a certain numbers of hypotheses some of which
may turn out to be erroneous. In particular, a form of BSE (called atypical
Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy), recently identified by systematic testing in
aged cattle without clinical signs, may be the origin of classical BSE and thus
potentially constitute a reservoir, which may be impossible to eradicate if a
sporadic origin is confirmed. ***Also, a link is suspected between atypical BSE
and some apparently sporadic cases of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans. These
atypical BSE cases constitute an unforeseen first threat that could sharply
modify the European approach to prion diseases.
Second threat
snip...
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...
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 ;
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Are USDA assurances on mad cow case 'gross oversimplification'?
SNIP...
What irks many scientists is the USDA’s April 25 statement that the rare
disease is “not generally associated with an animal consuming infected
feed.”
The USDA’s conclusion is a “gross oversimplification,” said Dr. Paul Brown,
one of the world’s experts on this type of disease who retired recently from the
National Institutes of Health. "(The agency) has no foundation on which to base
that statement.”
“We can’t say it’s not feed related,” agreed Dr. Linda Detwiler, an
official with the USDA during the Clinton Administration now at Mississippi
State.
In the May 1 email to me, USDA’s Cole backed off a bit. “No one knows the
origins of atypical cases of BSE,” she said
The argument about feed is critical because if feed is the cause, not a
spontaneous mutation, the California cow could be part of a larger outbreak.
SNIP...
Monday, August 6, 2012
TAFS BSE in USA August 6, 2012
BSE in USA
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Mad Cow Disease, BSE May 2, 2012 IOWA
State University OIE
2009 UPDATE ON ALABAMA AND TEXAS MAD COWS 2005 and 2006
Comments on technical aspects of the risk assessment were then submitted to
FSIS.
Comments were received from Food and Water Watch, Food Animal Concerns
Trust (FACT), Farm Sanctuary, R-CALF USA, Linda A Detwiler, and Terry S.
Singeltary.
This document provides itemized replies to the public comments received on
the 2005 updated Harvard BSE risk assessment. Please bear the following points
in mind:
Owens, Julie
From: Terry S. Singeltary Sr. [flounder9@verizon.net]
Sent: Monday, July 24, 2006 1:09 PM
To: FSIS RegulationsComments
Subject: [Docket No. FSIS-2006-0011] FSIS Harvard Risk Assessment of Bovine
Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE)
Page 1 of 98
FSIS, USDA, REPLY TO SINGELTARY
U.S.A. 50 STATE BSE MAD COW CONFERENCE CALL Jan. 9, 2001
2012 atypical L-type BSE BASE California reports
Saturday, August 4, 2012
Final Feed Investigation Summary - California BSE Case - July 2012
SUMMARY REPORT CALIFORNIA BOVINE SPONGIFORM ENCEPHALOPATHY CASE
INVESTIGATION JULY 2012
Summary Report BSE 2012
Executive Summary
Saturday, August 4, 2012
Update from APHIS Regarding Release of the Final Report on the BSE
Epidemiological Investigation
CENSORSHIP IS A TERRIBLE THING $$$
Canada has had a COVER-UP policy of mad cow disease since about the 17th
case OR 18th case of mad cow disease. AFTER THAT, all FOIA request were ignored
$$$
THIS proves there is indeed an epidemic of mad cow disease in North
America, and it has been covered up for years and years, if not for decades, and
it’s getting worse $$$
Thursday, February 10, 2011
TRANSMISSIBLE SPONGIFORM ENCEPHALOPATHY REPORT UPDATE CANADA FEBRUARY 2011
and how to hide mad cow disease in Canada Current as of: 2011-01-31
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
REPORT ON THE INVESTIGATION OF THE SIXTEENTH CASE OF BOVINE SPONGIFORM
ENCEPHALOPATHY (BSE) IN CANADA
Thursday, August 19, 2010
REPORT ON THE INVESTIGATION OF THE SEVENTEENTH CASE OF BOVINE SPONGIFORM
ENCEPHALOPATHY (BSE) IN CANADA
Friday, March 4, 2011
Alberta dairy cow found with mad cow disease
Reasons for the New Regulation Order No. 23 (as well as amending Order No.
149) of the State Committee for Veterinary Medicine name BSE as the reason for
new import requirement. The legal title for Order No. 23 is "On Urgent Measures
Aimed at Prevention and Elimination of BSE and Other Prion Infections in
Cattle”. Neither Order explains how the threat of introduction of BSE can be
addressed through the inspection of producers of all products of animal origin
including fish, dairy products, poultry and pork. It is not clear what other
concerns are addressed through the proposed inspections. Formal Notification of
Trading Partners On August 3rd, Ukraine's Notification and Enquiry Point issued
a legal Notification G/SPS/N/UKR/3/Rev.1 found on the Official WTO Website
(Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures)
Thursday, March 29, 2012
atypical Nor-98 Scrapie has spread from coast to coast in the USA 2012
NIAA Annual Conference April 11-14, 2011San Antonio, Texas
Monday, November 30, 2009
USDA AND OIE COLLABORATE TO EXCLUDE ATYPICAL SCRAPIE NOR-98 ANIMAL HEALTH
CODE
ANY RELAXING OF ANY BSE TESTING RULES WOULD NOT BE BASED ON SOUND SCIENCE,
BUT BASED ON INDUSTRY LED SCIENCE AND MONEY $$$
we now know that indeed atypical BSE is transmissible to cattle and other
species, and atypical BSE have been documented in older cattle to date. so
relaxing any BSE testing on older cattle would be a huge step backwards, and
could risk everything that has been done over the past 27 years to try and
eradicate BSE. ...
TSS
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