Board meeting agenda: 5 November 2013
Food Standards Agency FSA 13/11/05
Open Board – 05 November 2013
1
BSE – A REPORT ON SURVEILLANCE AND ENFORCEMENT OF CONTROLS ON SPECIFIED
RISK MATERIAL AND ANIMAL FEED - MARCH to AUGUST 2013
Report by Steve Wearne, Director of Policy
For further information contact Chris Walding on 0207 276 8334, email
chris.walding@foodstandards.gsi.gov.uk or Liz Olney on 07738 198928, email
liz.olney@foodstandards.gsi.gov.uk
SUMMARY
1.1. At the meeting on 11 December 2012 the FSA Board agreed to advise
Ministers that it would be acceptable on grounds of negligible risk to consumers
and proportionality to stop BSE testing of healthy cattle slaughtered for human
consumption in the UK.1 This advice was subject to higher-risk cattle aged over
48 months continuing to be tested for BSE and the specified risk material (SRM)
and feed controls remaining in force. This change in BSE testing requirements
was implemented on 1 March 2013.
1.2. In making its decision, the Board requested a regular report on the
results of BSE monitoring and enforcement of feed and SRM controls to ensure
confidence in the continued effectiveness of the BSE controls.
1.3 The Board is asked to:
• Note the contents of this paper;
• Comment on the data presented and the action being taken by the FSA on
the issues raised; and
• Note that results of increased monitoring will be included in the next
six monthly report to the Board.
INTRODUCTION
snip...
DISCUSSION
BSE Monitoring Data
5.1. In the period 1 March 2013 – 31 August 2013, a total of 77,778 higher
risk cattle were tested in GB with a further 17,295 tested in NI. Only two
positive tests were reported, both being from fallen stock that were not
destined for human consumption. Cross checks on animals slaughtered and testing
data have not revealed any animals requiring testing that missed tests and
entered the food chain. Two FBOs have been referred for investigation for
failure to test animals that required testing. These failures were found during
routine
Food Standards Agency FSA 13/11/05
Open Board – 05 November 2013
3
checks at the slaughterhouse and no untested carcases entered the food
chain.
DEVOLUTION IMPLICATIONS
7.1. No specific devolved issues.
CONSUMER ENGAGEMENT
8.1. No specific consumer engagement on the issues raised in this paper is
envisaged at this stage. Information on the breaches of SRM controls referred to
in this paper will be published on the website when investigations are
completed, in line with normal practice. The FBOs directly involved in the
breaches will be identified in these reports.
8.2 Consumers generally, and the families of vCJD victims in particular,
may be concerned about these breaches and the effectiveness of SRM controls in
general in protecting human health from the potential BSE risk. They will want
to be re-assured that the corrective measures that have been, and are being,
taken to tighten controls on the removal of bovine vertebral column will be
effective. We have described in section 5.13 above the action that has been
taken, and we will include results of increased monitoring in the next six
monthly report to the Board.
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
9.1. The relaxation of BSE testing controls has provided a renewed focus on
SRM controls. This report identifies the need for these controls to be more
effective and robust. The FSA and industry stakeholders are therefore taking
action to ensure that consumer safeguards are maintained, through raised
awareness, increased monitoring and supervision, and robust application of the
enforcement hierarchy.
9.2. Ensuring strict adherence to operational requirements to verify FBO
controls and with additional assurance checks and notification procedures for
FBOs, the FSA is guarding against industry non-compliance with application of
the enforcement hierarchy where there are non-compliances. The FSA will keep the
effectiveness of the controls under review, including an assessment of the
benefits of the additional controls introduced in September at slaughterhouses
dispatching OTM carcases for off-site VC removal, and FSA communications to
officials at receiving plants to ensure necessary supervision is in place.
Results of the increased monitoring will be reported to the FSA Board in the
next six monthly report.
Food Standards Agency FSA 13/11/05
Open Board – 05 November 2013
9
9.3. The Board is asked to:
• note the contents of this paper;
• comment on the data presented and the action being taken by the FSA on
the issues raised; and
• note that results of increased monitoring will be included in the next
six monthly report to the Board.
snip...see full text ;
please see ;
Conclusions
In conclusion, demonstration of transmission of the disease even with low
concentrations of PrPsc [54], highlights BSE’s ability to adopt different
behavior, even sometimes similar to Scrapie [55], should reinforce that
vigilance is required in interpreting results so that subtle changes do not go
unnoticed. Additionally, to maintain a continued supervision of the techniques
which are applied in the routine diagnosis would prove essential for the
ultimate eradication of the disease. A study of the actual BSE presence should
be considered as necessary because a state of sporadic prevalence could exist
[56] and samples without a diagnosis [57,58] could reach the food chain,
involving therefore a risk for public health.
Keywords
TSEs, BSE, Confirmatory diagnosis, Non-conclusive cases
WOW! holy mad cows, how many more were there, and how many were consumed or
put into by-products for consumption, for humans and animals ???
From: Terry S. Singeltary Sr.
Sent: Tuesday, August 13, 2013 3:58 PM
To: Science.Advisory.Council@defra.gsi.gov.uk
Subject: Idiopathic Brainstem Neuronal Chromatolysis (IBNC): a novel prion
protein related disorder of cattle?
Greetings Honorable Science Advisory Council et al @ DEFRA,
I wish to ask a question about something I have seen no updates on, that
concerns me.
IDIOPATHIC BRAINSTEM NEURONAL CHROMATOLYSIS IBNC or what I some times call,
IBNC BSE.
I have seen nothing in the scientific literature updated on this in years,
since around 2008, then it was like it fell off the face of the earth ?
can you please give me some sort of update on the IBNC BSE science to date
?
how many cases of IBNC BSE have been detected ?
is there an ongoing surveillance for this the IBNC BSE, and are the BSE
test even capable of detecting it ?
could the USA and or North America even detect, if they were even looking
for it ?
latest studies, if any more since "All of the 15 cattle tested showed that
the brains had abnormally accumulated PrP" ?
thank you,
kind regards,
terry
SNIP...see full text ;
MAD COW TESTING ONLY CATCHES SOME MAD COWS
SPREADING IT ALL AROUND
Saturday, October 19, 2013
***A comparative study of modified confirmatory techniques and additional
immuno-based methods for non-conclusive autolytic Bovine spongiform
encephalopathy cases
Thursday, June 6, 2013
FSA MORE BSE MAD COW CONTROL BREACHES JUNE 2013
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Inspections, Compliance, Enforcement, and Criminal Investigations BSE TSE
PRION 2013
Wednesday, October 09, 2013
WHY THE UKBSEnvCJD ONLY THEORY IS SO POPULAR IN IT'S FALLACY, £41,078,281
in compensation REVISED
Thursday, October 10, 2013
CJD REPORT 1994 increased risk for consumption of veal and venison and lamb
Monday, October 14, 2013
Researchers estimate one in 2,000 people in the UK carry variant CJD
proteins
Friday, August 16, 2013
*** Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) biannual update August 2013 U.K. and
Contaminated blood products induce a highly atypical prion disease devoid of
PrPres in primates
WHAT about the sporadic CJD TSE proteins ?
WE now know that some cases of sporadic CJD are linked to atypical BSE and
atypical Scrapie, so why are not MORE concerned about the sporadic CJD, and all
it’s sub-types $$$
Sunday, August 11, 2013
Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease CJD cases rising North America updated report
August 2013
Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease CJD cases rising North America with Canada seeing
an extreme increase of 48% between 2008 and 2010
Sunday, October 13, 2013
CJD TSE Prion Disease Cases in Texas by Year, 2003-2012
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
NORDION (US), INC., AND BIOAXONE BIOSCIENCES, INC., Settles $90M Mad Cow
TSE prion Contamination Suit Cethrin(R)
Case 0:12-cv-60739-RNS Document 1 Entered on FLSD Docket 04/26/2012 Page 1
of 15
Monday, October 21, 2013
WTO Mad cow disease (No 193)
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Cleaning, disinfection and sterilization of surface prion contamination
TSS
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