Food Standards Agency
Sunday 7 September 2008
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What is RSS?BSE is one of a group of diseases that affect a number of different mammals. These diseases, known as Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (TSEs), or Prion Diseases, result from the build-up of abnormal prion proteins in the brain and nervous system. TSEs get their name from the spongy appearance in the infected brain, and the fact that they are transmissible via infected material.
A commonly occurring prion disease is scrapie. This disease affects sheep and goats and is found in many different countries.
Scrapie has been seen in UK flocks for over 250 years, and while some of the symptoms of the disease are very similar to BSE – it attacks the nervous system of sheep and goats and causes death – studies have not shown any link between scrapie and human illness.
Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) is a disease that affects adult cattle. BSE attacks the brain and central nervous system of the animal and eventually causes death.
Commonly known as 'Mad-Cow Disease', BSE has a long incubation period. This means that it usually takes four to six years for cattle infected with BSE to show signs of the disease, such as disorientation, clumsiness and, occasionally, aggressive behaviour towards other animals and humans.
Back to topBSE was first confirmed in cattle in 1986. Despite much research, however, no one can say with certainty where BSE came from, although several theories exist.
Cattle are grazing animals that do not naturally eat meat. Most experts agree that BSE was most likely spread by cattle eating feed that contained meat-and-bone Meal (MBM), made from BSE-infected tissues. MBM was produced in a process called rendering; this was otherwise unused animal products were turned into animal feed.
Experiments have shown that cattle can contract BSE if they are fed infected brain tissue. This seems to support the idea that BSE was transmitted to cattle through their animal feed.
The practice of feeding MBM to cattle, and all other farm livestock is now banned.
Back to topBSE develops in cattle, but it belongs to a family of prion diseases, several of which can affect humans. The most commonly known disease in this group among humans is Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD). This is a rare and fatal form of dementia that mainly occurs in individuals between the ages of 40 and 80.
CJD is not a new disease among humans, but in 1996, scientists discovered a new strain of CJD that occurs predominantly in younger people.
More recent evidence has shown that the protein that accumulates in the brains of individuals with this new form of CJD is similar to the protein found in cattle infected with BSE, rather than that found in classical CJD. Because of this difference, the new illness in humans is known as variant CJD or vCJD.
The occurrence of a new form of CJD in the UK, where there was a high incidence of BSE, suggested that there might be a direct link between BSE and vCJD. Some individuals who have developed vCJD are known to have eaten potentially BSE-infected meat products. Researchers concluded that the most likely origin of this new disease was human exposure to the BSE agent.
Like BSE in cattle, vCJD is always fatal in people. As of 4 July 2008, 167 probable or definite cases of vCJD had been diagnosed in the UK.
Back to topSince the late 1980s, the Government has introduced and strengthened controls to reduce the risk of people eating beef and meat products that might be infected with BSE.
The controls are based on current scientific knowledge and are designed to reduce the risk to an extremely low level, although the risk from BSE cannot be removed completely.
A key job for the Food Standards Agency is to make sure that these controls are working effectively.
The Current controls are;
1) The removal of Specified Risk Material
By law, the parts of cattle, and sheep and goats most likely to carry BSE are removed when an animal is slaughtered. They do not go into our food. These parts of the animal are known as Specified Risk Material (SRM) and include brain and spinal cord. In cattle SRM controls are estimated to remove most potential infectivity in the unlikely event of an animal infected with BSE but not yet showing any clinical signs being slaughtered for human consumption. ( chart containing full details of SRM ).
2) BSE testing of older cattle
Cattle aged over thirty months (OTM) may enter the food supply, but only if they have tested negative for BSE. The BSE testing system replaces a blanket ban on cattle aged over thirty months entering the food supply. Cattle younger than thirty months are unlikely to carry a significant amount of BSE.
Cattle born before August 1996, when a reinforced ban was introduced on animal feed containing meat and bone meal (see below), are permanently excluded from the food chain. Animal feed containing meat and bone meal is thought to have been responsible for the spread of BSE among cattle.
3) Mechanically Separated Meat
In the past, products such as low-cost burgers, sausages, pies and mince included mechanically separated meat (MSM). This is meat that is stripped from the bone at high pressure because it is impossible to remove by hand. In the mid-1990s the Government banned the use of the vertebral column, or backbone, of cattle in MSM. This ban was expanded in 1998 to cover the vertebral column of all grazing animals. The production of MSM from all ruminant bones is now prohibited throughout the EU.
4) The Feed Ban
A ban on the feeding of MBM to ruminants was introduced in the UK in 1988. In August 1996 this was extended to cover the feeding of MBM to all farm animals. EU Regulations now prohibit (with certain exceptions) the use of processed protein in feed to all livestock.
The ban on SRM and BSE testing of OTM cattle are the two controls that keep potentially infected material out of the human food chain. The feed ban prevents cattle from being exposed to BSE and therefore reduces the incidence, or number of new cases, of BSE.
In addition to these controls, animals with BSE or suspected of having BSE, the offspring and cohorts of BSE cases are removed from the food chain.
Back to topSince 1989 cases of BSE have been confirmed in the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal. Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States.
The epidemic in the UK has been in decline for many years.
With the decline in BSE cases the UK is now, along with other EU Member States, classified in the controlled risk category as determined by the European Union (EU).
Back to topWe still do not know how BSE started in the UK. But extensive use of MBM in cattle feed in this country meant that, once it started, BSE spread rapidly.
Back to topThe EC Regulation 999/2001 applies throughout the European Union. All Member States must ensure that beef and beef products comply with controls contained in the regulation which is designed to reduce the risk of BSE.
These include compulsory testing of cattle over 30 months of age and the removal of specified risk material, in all Member States.
In order to be imported into the EU meat and meat products that originate from third countries must have evidence to show that they have been produced to an equivalent standard to Member States.
In addition, checks are made on imported beef by the Meat Hygiene Service to ensure that all specified risk material has been removed. Any consignments that contain SRM are rejected and destroyed. There have been a number of incidents since 2001, which are listed on this website.
To help consumers know where the beef they buy comes from, the Food Standards Agency has issued country of origin labelling guidance. Beef labelling regulations, which cover cuts of beef and minced meat, require the origin of beef to be given (see the link to the Defra website below for more information on this).
Back to topBSE has never been found in the UK sheep flock. However, some sheep ate the same feed (MBM) which is thought to have given cattle BSE and laboratory research has shown that sheep can be artificially infected with BSE. There is, therefore, a possible risk that BSE is in sheep and SRM controls are applied on a precautionary basis.
The Food Standards Agency will continue to take a precautionary approach and recommend precautionary and proportionate measures to protect the public against the possible risk of BSE in sheep.
Back to topFor further information on BSE and to find out about the latest research, please call the Food Standards Agency on 0845 757 3012 (local rate).
Back to topA number of BSE controls are in place in the UK designed to make beef and beef products safer for people to eat
BSE has never been found in the UK sheep flock. However, some sheep were fed the same feed (meat and bone meal) that is thought to have given cattle BSE and laboratory research has shown that sheep can be artificially infected with BSE. It is possible that BSE is hidden by scrapie in sheep and passed between flocks or from a mother to her lambs.
BSE has been found in one French goat that died in 2002.
The Prime Minister, Tony Blair, announced the review of BSE controls at a special Downing Street summit of food and farming industry leaders on March 30, 2000
Scientific tests have identified a brain disease in sheep called atypical scrapie. The disease comes from the same family of diseases as 'classical' scrapie in sheep (which has been around for over 200 years and is not known to be harmful to people) and BSE in cattle (from which humans can get the fatal disease variant CJD).
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