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Listen to this siteCattle, sheep and goats are susceptible to a group of brain diseases known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs). The best known of these diseases is bovine spongiform encephalopathy in cattle, it is also known as BSE or mad cow disease.
There are strict controls in place in the UK to protect people from BSE. The Food Standards Agency monitors these controls and publicises any breaches, as well as the actions taken to prevent further failures.
Although no sheep in the UK flock have been found to have BSE, there are a number of precautionary safety measures in place since it has been shown under laboratory conditions that sheep can be infected with BSE. The Agency continues to review and support research into TSEs in animal species used for food.
The Advisory Committee on Dangerous Pathogens (ACDP) TSE risk assessment subgroup provides independent expert advice on TSEs to the FSA and other departments.
The European TSE Regulation 999/2001 (as amended) sets out the requirements for TSE monitoring, animal feeding and the removal of specified risk material.
These reports provide updates on any BSE controls breaches.
Information about the research programme that aims to provide a sound scientific basis for estimating the possible foodborne risk from TSE and related diseases and ensure that enforceable controls are in place to protect consumers.
Vertebral column in cattle older than 30 months and spinal cord in sheep and goats over 12 months of age or with a permanent incisor erupted is specified risk material. It can only be removed in cutting plants authorised under the TSE regulations.
Bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE, is one of a group of diseases known as Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (TSEs), or prion diseases. They result from the build-up of abnormal prion proteins in the brain and nervous system. TSEs get their name from the spongy appearance of the infected brain, and the fact that they are transmissible via infected material.
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.
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