Department Reports Results of Epidemiological Investigation Final test
results confirm the recent suspect case of BSE to be an isolated case of
“classical” BSE in a single animal, according to the Department of Agriculture,
Food and the Marine.
In line with normal protocols, the Department identified all animals
potentially exposed to the BSE agent that caused this incident – those born and
reared on the birth-farm one year either side of the birth date of the positive
animal, and her progeny. These have been slaughtered, excluded from the food and
feed chains, and tested.
The epidemiological investigation has confirmed that:
All 63 cohort animals and 4 progeny slaughtered and disposed of have tested
negative for BSE; The confirmed case is an isolated case in a single animal;
Both the dam and grand dam of the infected animal tested negative for BSE at
slaughter, and therefore vertical transmission is not considered to be a factor
in this case; Whilst the grand-dam of the positive animal was imported, this is
not of any significance in epidemiological terms No concerns arise regarding the
integrity of the commercial feed supply chain or the effectiveness of the feed
control systems. In the 2009 and 2010 period, more than 3,800 feed inspections
took place, and almost 2,500 feed samples, including 52 from suppliers to the
farm on which the positive case was found, were tested for the presence of
processed animal proteins. All tested negative for meat and bone meal. Test
results from feed currently on the farm are also negative. The investigation has
not identified anything to distinguish this case from the other cases of
classical BSE that have been seen in Ireland or elsewhere. The identification of
classical BSE cases after the implementation of the ban on the feeding of meat
and bone meal is not unprecedented. A diminishing number of such cases have been
identified in Ireland and in other countries over the years.
These results are now being advised to the EU Commission and to the OIE. It
is expected that the OIE will reassign ‘controlled risk’ status to Ireland,
recognising the robust control systems in place which identified this once-off
case and which will continue to underpin the safe trade in products from
Ireland. The control system that has brought BSE under control is still in place
to protect human and animal health and is deemed to be effective by the
OIE.
Notes for Editor
1. Negligible risk status – the confirmation that this is case of classical
BSE in a domestic animal which is less than 11 years old, means that Ireland no
longer meets the parameters set out in the OIE code necessary for a country to
be recognised as a country with negligible risk for BSE.
2. Controlled risk status – recognises the effective application of a suite
of effective controls and provides a basis for the safe trade in animals and
products.
3. Controls in place
A ban on the feeding of meat and bone meal to ruminants Effective rendering
processes Systematic testing of feed supplies Active and passive animal level
surveillance and testing for the disease Ante-mortem checks conducted by
veterinarians on all animals prior to slaughter to ensure that only healthy
animals enter the food chain The removal and destruction, on a precautionary
basis, of certain specified risk materials from slaughtered animals 4. BSE does
not transfer horizontally from animal to animal – no risk to other animals
arises from this case animal.
see OIE report ;
Tuesday, June 23, 2015
Report on the monitoring and testing of ruminants for the presence of
transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) in the EU in 2013 Final version
18 May 2015
From: Terry S. Singeltary Sr. Sent: Thursday, June 11, 2015 2:41 PM To:
BSE-L@LISTS.AEGEE.ORG Subject: [BSE-L] Ireland Department of Agriculture, Food
and the Marine Identifies Suspected BSE Case
Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine Identifies Suspected BSE
Case
The Department today announced the identification of a suspected BSE case
in county Louth. The case was identified through the Department’s on-going
surveillance system on fallen animals (that is animals which die on farm). The
animal was not presented for slaughter and did not enter the food chain.
Confirmatory tests are being undertaken and results will be available in
approximately one week. If confirmed, this will be the first BSE case found in
Ireland since 2013.
DAFM is now undertaking a full investigation into all relevant factors in
this case - including a full epidemiological examination.
DAFM is informing the relevant national and international reference
organisations and the European Commission, and will be liaising with trading
partners.
Note for editors
If, as expected, the tests confirm this to be a classical case of BSE, this
may impact on Ireland’s recently awarded “negligible risk status” from the World
Organisation for Animal Health (OIE). In this case Ireland will revert to
“controlled risk status” which applied up to last week and which facilitated
trade to a wide range of international markets. It will also result in the
continuation of the existing range of controls for a further number of years.
The full range of risk mitigating measures continue in place at slaughter
plants, including the following:
All animals presented for slaughter are systematically subjected to
ante-mortem examination by veterinary inspectors to ensure that only healthy
animals are allowed into the food chain.
A range of tissues - identified as ‘specified risk material’ - where the
BSE infectivity resides in potentially infected animals are systematically
removed from all slaughtered bovines of differing ages as follows:
All ages: tonsils, intestines and mesentery
Over 12 months: skull (including eyes and brain) and spinal cord
Over 30 months: the vertebral column and associated tissues
The animal involved is a five year old cow on a dairy farm in county Louth.
The investigation will include an examination of the birth cohort and progeny of
the cow involved.
BSE IRELAND
*** Singeltary reply ; Molecular, Biochemical and Genetic Characteristics
of BSE in Canada Singeltary reply ;
ruminant feed ban for cervids in the United States ?
31 Jan 2015 at 20:14 GMT
Thursday, May 28, 2015
*** OIE cuts six European countries' mad cow risk level, while increasing
risk factors for humans to the BSE TSE PRION DISEASE around the globe
O.05: Transmission of prions to primates after extended silent incubation
periods: Implications for BSE and scrapie risk assessment in human populations
Emmanuel Comoy, Jacqueline Mikol, Val erie Durand, Sophie Luccantoni,
Evelyne Correia, Nathalie Lescoutra, Capucine Dehen, and Jean-Philippe Deslys
Atomic Energy Commission; Fontenay-aux-Roses, France
Prion diseases (PD) are the unique neurodegenerative proteinopathies
reputed to be transmissible under field conditions since decades. The
transmission of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) to humans evidenced that
an animal PD might be zoonotic under appropriate conditions. Contrarily, in the
absence of obvious (epidemiological or experimental) elements supporting a
transmission or genetic predispositions, PD, like the other proteinopathies, are
reputed to occur spontaneously (atpical animal prion strains, sporadic CJD
summing 80% of human prion cases). Non-human primate models provided the first
evidences supporting the transmissibiity of human prion strains and the zoonotic
potential of BSE. Among them, cynomolgus macaques brought major information for
BSE risk assessment for human health (Chen, 2014), according to their
phylogenetic proximity to humans and extended lifetime. We used this model to
assess the zoonotic potential of other animal PD from bovine, ovine and cervid
origins even after very long silent incubation periods. We recently observed the
direct transmission of a natural classical scrapie isolate to macaque after a
10-year silent incubation period, with features similar to some reported for
human cases of sporadic CJD, albeit requiring fourfold longe incubation than
BSE. Scrapie, as recently evoked in humanized mice (Cassard, 2014), is the third
potentially zoonotic PD (with BSE and L-type BSE), ***thus questioning the
origin of human sporadic cases. We will present an updated panorama of our
different transmission studies and discuss the implications of such extended
incubation periods on risk assessment of animal PD for human health.
===============
***thus questioning the origin of human sporadic cases...TSS
===============
Saturday, May 30, 2015
PRION 2015 ORAL AND POSTER CONGRESSIONAL ABSTRACTS
LATE-BREAKING ABSTRACTS
O18
Zoonotic Potential of CWD Prions
Liuting Qing1, Ignazio Cali1,2, Jue Yuan1, Shenghai Huang3, Diane Kofskey1,
Pierluigi Gambetti1, Wenquan Zou1, Qingzhong Kong1 1Case Western Reserve
University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA, 2Second University of Naples, Naples, Italy,
3Encore Health Resources, Houston, Texas, USA
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a widespread and expanding prion disease
in free-ranging and captive cervid species in North America. The zoonotic
potential of CWD prions is a serious public health concern. Current literature
generated with in vitro methods and in vivo animal models (transgenic mice,
macaques and squirrel monkeys) reports conflicting results. The susceptibility
of human CNS and peripheral organs to CWD prions remains largely unresolved. In
our earlier bioassay experiments using several humanized transgenic mouse lines,
we detected protease-resistant PrPSc in the spleen of two out of 140 mice that
were intracerebrally inoculated with natural CWD isolates, but PrPSc was not
detected in the brain of the same mice. Secondary passages with such
PrPSc-positive CWD-inoculated humanized mouse spleen tissues led to efficient
prion transmission with clear clinical and pathological signs in both humanized
and cervidized transgenic mice. Furthermore, a recent bioassay with natural CWD
isolates in a new humanized transgenic mouse line led to clinical prion
infection in 2 out of 20 mice. These results indicate that the CWD prion has the
potential to infect human CNS and peripheral lymphoid tissues and that there
might be asymptomatic human carriers of CWD infection.
==================
***These results indicate that the CWD prion has the potential to infect
human CNS and peripheral lymphoid tissues and that there might be asymptomatic
human carriers of CWD infection.***
==================
I strenuously once again urge the FDA and its industry constituents, to
make it MANDATORY that all ruminant feed be banned to all ruminants, and this
should include all cervids as soon as possible for the following
reasons...
======
In the USA, under the Food and Drug Administrations BSE Feed Regulation (21
CFR 589.2000) most material (exceptions include milk, tallow, and gelatin) from
deer and elk is prohibited for use in feed for ruminant animals. With regards to
feed for non-ruminant animals, under FDA law, CWD positive deer may not be used
for any animal feed or feed ingredients. For elk and deer considered at high
risk for CWD, the FDA recommends that these animals do not enter the animal feed
system.
***However, this recommendation is guidance and not a requirement by law.
======
31 Jan 2015 at 20:14 GMT
*** Ruminant feed ban for cervids in the United States? ***
31 Jan 2015 at 20:14 GMT
Friday, May 22, 2015
*** Chronic Wasting Disease and Program Updates - 2014 NEUSAHA Annual
Meeting 12-14 May 2014 ***
Saturday, May 30, 2015
PRION 2015 ORAL AND POSTER CONGRESSIONAL ABSTRACTS
Wednesday, June 10, 2015
Zoonotic Potential of CWD Prions
LATE-BREAKING ABSTRACTS
Tuesday, May 26, 2015
Minimise transmission risk of CJD and vCJD in healthcare settings Last
updated 15 May 2015
Thursday, June 11, 2015
Ireland Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine Identifies Suspected
BSE Case
TSS
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