Atypical BSE variant found in cattle in South Holland
A positive case of BSE ('Mad Cow Disease') was found this week in the cadaver of an 8-year-old cow in South Holland. Wageningen Bioveterinary Research (WBVR) has investigated which variant of BSE it concerns. The result of WBVR indicates that this is an atypical variant.
Atypical cases of BSE occur sporadically in older cows, a type of 'old-age BSE'. The last time this occurred in the Netherlands was 2011. Scientists believe that the atypical variants can arise spontaneously. So far, four atypical cases have been identified in the Netherlands.
Minister Piet Adema: It is really shocking when you hear that a cow has tested positive for BSE, because we have not had a BSE case for a long time. I am relieved that this is now the so-called 'atypical variant', which means that the consequences are mainly limited to the company in question. It is of course very bad for the livestock farmer in question. 13 cattle that are related to this cow because they are descendants or have been raised together will be taken away to be killed and tested. This case has been resolved with these measures. Food safety is not at risk. It is good to note that our monitoring system for BSE does work.
Continuation
The company of the holder of the positive case is immediately blocked. The Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) has carried out source and contact research in which the offspring of this cow younger than 2 years old are killed and tested. In order to perform BSE tests on brain material, the animal must first be killed.
The NVWA's source and contact investigation showed that the infected bovine had five offspring, one of which is still alive on the same farm. This bovine is less than 2 years old. This one is killed and tested. The remaining four offspring are older than two years, making it unlikely that transmission from mother to these calves could have taken place. They therefore pose no risk to public health.
All cattle born on the same farm as the infected bovine within twelve months before or after the birth of this bovine will also be killed and tested, as well as all bovines that were kept together with this infected bovine in their first year of life. and who, according to the study, received the same potentially contaminated feed during that period.
A total of 13 cattle have been tracked down and are being transported to be killed and tested. As a result, the products of these animals do not enter the food chain and therefore pose no risk to food safety. The measures will be implemented as soon as possible.
What is BSE?
BSE (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE)) is a fatal disease that occurs in cattle affecting the central nervous system. It is also a zoonosis that can cause the deadly brain disease variant Creutzfeldt-Jacob in humans. Infection can occur through consumption of infected cattle. There is therefore a European monitoring program in which all cadavers in certain risk groups are tested for the presence of BSE.The bovine that has now been found positive has been traced through this active surveillance.
There are two variants: the atypical variant, which is now the case, and the 'classic variant', which led to the BSE crisis in Europe in the 1980s. Reuse of animal proteins in animal feed was an important cause of the spread of classical BSE. This was followed by a ban on the use of certain types of processed animal proteins in animal feed for cattle.
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FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2010
Dutch report positive test for mad cow disease
Dutch report positive test for mad cow disease
AMSTERDAM, Sept 3 Fri Sep 3, 2010 7:00am EDT
AMSTERDAM, Sept 3 (Reuters) - A 10-year-old cow in the Netherlands has tested positive for BSE, more commonly known as "mad cow" disease, the first such result in more than two years, the Dutch government said on Friday.
The government ministry responsible for food quality said the animal tested positive for the brain-wasting disease bovine spongiform encephalopathy at a slaughterhouse.
It was the first positive test for BSE in the country since May 2008, the ministry said in a statement.
A spokesman for the ministry told Reuters the cow's meat was withdrawn from the food chain after a first positive test, while a second test confirmed the result.
All cows sent to slaughter in the country are tested and held aside for the results before their meat enters the system.
Mad cow disease is of particular concern because it has been known to cause a related brain-wasting disease in humans who have eaten contaminated meat.
Three people have died in the Netherlands from Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease after eating meat from a BSE positive cow. The last reported death was in January 2009. (Reporting by Ben Berkowitz; editing by James Jukwey)
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLDE6820VK20100903
Na twee jaar weer BSE-koe aangetroffen Persbericht 03-09-2010
Er is een geval van BSE vastgesteld. Het gaat om een ruim tien jaar oude koe die op het slachthuis is getest. Dit past in de verwachting van het Centraal Veterinair Instituut in Lelystad dat Nederland in de komende jaren af en toe een besmette koe zal tegenkomen.
Het ministerie van LNV is blij dat Nederland ondanks een zeer intensief testprogramma gedurende een periode van ruim twee jaar geen enkel geval van BSE aantrof. Het laatste geval was in mei 2008. In 2009 testte Nederland 405.000 runderen op BSE.
http://www.minlnv.nl/portal/page?_pageid=116,1640333&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL&p_news_item_id=2007820
BSE For some years now the Netherlands has been taking measures to prevent BSE (Bovine Spongiforme Encephalopathy) in its cattle herd. All EU measures were implemented, though the Netherlands has also anticipated European regulation and introduced additional measures of its own.
In spite of all these efforts the Netherlands has not been free of BSE. It was first diagnosed in the Netherlands in 1997.
Measures taken by the Dutch Government Over the years a broad package of measures has been built up to combat BSE. This is partly aimed at food safety, partly at the eradication of BSE. These measures follow the recommendations of the Office International des Epizoties (OIE), and Decisions of the EU.
The measures involve:
Tracking down diseased or suspect cattle. Since 1989 it is been compulsory for owners and veterinarians to report any cattle that show symptoms of BSE to the authorities. Evaluation of the animal's health at the slaughterhouse, prior to slaughter. Compulsory removal of risk material on slaughter; This measure was introduced in the Netherlands in 1997. It has applied to all European Member States since 1 October 2000. Treatment of animal by-products used in animal feed at 133°C and 3 bar during 20 min. since the seventies. A ban on the use of animal protein in animal feed for domestic farm animals (such as cattle). Testing for BSE on all slaughtered cattle older than 30 months. Further information on the most important measures is given below.
Removal of risk material The most important measure taken to protect the consumer against BSE is the decision that so-called risk material must be removed in the slaughterhouse. The disease-causing prions do not occur in the whole animal. They are concentrated in the brains, spinal cord and some other risk material. This material is removed on slaughter and incinerated, and so eliminated from the food chain. Disease-causing organisms have never been found in meat taken from cattle muscle (steak, etc.). The removal of risk material has been compulsory since 1997.
Ban on animal protein The aim is to eliminate BSEby removing the most important source of infection (infected animal protein).
Since 1989 there has been a ban in the Netherlands on the use of remains of ruminants in ruminant feed (cattle, sheep and goats). This ban has been tightened on a number of occasions. Since 1994 no animal protein originating from mammals (previously ruminants) may be used in ruminant feed. Since 1999 the production of feed for ruminants and feed for non-ruminants containing animal protein is totally separated. This measures prevents any contamination of feed for ruminants with animal protein. Since 1 January 2001 feed containing animal protein from mammals is not only banned for ruminants, but also for all domestic farm animals, such as pigs and chickens. Compulsory BSE test From 1 January 2001 all cattle older than 30 months presented for slaughter are subjected to a rapid BSE test, approved by the European Commission. In order to carry out these tests a piece of brain tissue is removed from the cattle. If the result is positive the final diagnosis is made by traditional microscopic study of brain tissue, according to OIE.
In addition to the testing of cattle older than 30 months, risk material is removed from slaughtered cattle intended for human consumption.
http://www.minlnv.nl/portal/page?_pageid=116,1640387&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL&p_document_id=111059&p_node_id=5550285&p_mode=
http://www.minlnv.nl/portal/page?_pageid=116,1640440&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL&p_node_id=8887325
J Neurol. 2007 July; 254(7): 958–960. Published online 2007 April 21. doi: 10.1007/s00415-006-0360-3. PMCID: PMC2779429
Copyright © Steinkopff-Verlag 2007
The first case of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in the Netherlands
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2779429/
Eurosurveillance, Volume 11, Issue 26, 29 June 2006 Articles C van Duijn1, H Ruijs2, A Timen2
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Citation style for this article: van Duijn C, Ruijs H, Timen A.
Second probable case of vCJD in the Netherlands.
Euro Surveill. 2006;11(26):pii=2991.
Available online: http://www.eurosurveillance.org/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleId=2991
Date of submission:
Second probable case of vCJD in the Netherlands
http://www.eurosurveillance.org/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleId=2991
TO DATE, 3 CASES OF nvCJD have been documented in the Netherlands ;
vCJD cases Worldwide (Netherlands = 3 cases nvCJD documented to date August 2010)
Country 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 Alive Total
Netherlands 1 1 1 3
http://www.eurocjd.ed.ac.uk/surveillance%20data%204.htm
Total Cases of Sporadic CJD (Deaths)
Sporadic CJD: Definite and probable cases
Country 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Total
Netherlands 12 18 8 14 18 17 19 10 14 18 12 20 20 22 15 16 11 264
http://www.eurocjd.ed.ac.uk/surveillance%20data%203.htm
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2010
Netherlands reports 2nd BSE case this year 14 October 2010
14 October 2010
THE HAGUE (BNO NEWS) -- A 13-year-old cow in the Netherlands on Thursday was found to be infected with BSE, which is commonly known as 'mad-cow disease', according to the country's Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality.
Thursday's case is the second case of BSE in the Netherlands since May 2008. The other case was reported on September 3 when a cow was diagnosed with BSE at a farm in Tilburg, near the border with Belgium.
The ministry on Thursday said the cow had died on a farm in country, but did not reveal where the farm was located. "We can expect to see several more BSE-cases during the next few years," the ministry said in a statement.
This is because a number of cows are still alive from before a European Union feed ban went into effect on January 1, 2001. That ban prohibits certain animal products from being fed to cows, which can lead to BSE being spread among cows.
The Netherlands tested around 405,000 cattle in 2009, while around 7.5 million cattle were tested throughout the European Union. A total of 67 BSE cases were found, all of which were outside of the Netherlands.
The ministry said there is no need to take action because cows cannot infect each other with BSE. "But, as usual, the animals who were born on the same farm around the same time as the infected animal or ate the same food will be examined, as well as their offspring."
(Copyright 2010 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. Info: sales@bnonews.com.)
http://channel6newsonline.com/2010/10/netherlands-reports-2nd-bse-case-this-year/
PLEASE SEE FULL REPORT HERE ;
http://www.oie.int/wahis/public.php?page=single_report&pop=1&reportid=9852
Spatial analysis of BSE cases in the Netherlands
BMC Veterinary Research volume 4, Article number: 21 (2008)
Background
In many of the European countries affected by Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), case clustering patterns have been observed. Most of these patterns have been interpreted in terms of heterogeneities in exposure of cattle to the BSE agent. Here we investigate whether spatial clustering is present in the Dutch BSE case data.
Results
We have found three spatial case clusters in the Dutch BSE epidemic. The clusters are geographically distinct and each cluster appears in a different birth cohort. When testing all birth cohorts together, only one significant cluster was detected. The fact that we found stronger spatial clustering when using a cohort-based analysis, is consistent with the evidence that most BSE infections occur in animals less than 12 or 18 months old.
Conclusion
Significant spatial case clustering is present in the Dutch BSE epidemic. The spatial clusters of BSE cases are most likely due to time-dependent heterogeneities in exposure related to feed production.
Discussion
We have found three spatial case clusters in the Dutch BSE epidemic. The clusters are geographically distinct and each cluster appears in a different birth cohort. The fact that we found stronger spatial clustering when using a cohort-based analysis, is consistent with the evidence that most BSE infections occur in animals less than 12 or 18 months old [24, 25]. As a result of the infection at a young age, temporal changes in BSE exposure are seen most clearly by comparing cohort-wise incidence levels. The fact that each of the three significant clusters in the cohort-based analysis occurs in a different birth cohort, suggests that the causes of the enhanced infection levels each occurred within a limited time frame of at most about a year.
In the Introduction we discussed the possible mechanisms that may produce clustering of BSE cases. The candidate mechanisms that could underlie the observed spatial clusters in the Netherlands are feeding practice and on-farm cross-contamination, and heterogeneities in rendering and feed processing. Local recycling is not likely as the number of rendering plants in the Netherlands was as low as two and each of these supplied nationwide to feed producers. Population heterogeneity is unlikely because in previous work [1] neither genetic differences between regions have been found nor differences in management. Population heterogeneity as a cause of spatial clustering is also unlikely in view of the limited time frame in which the causes of the clusters seem to have been present.
In the same previous work, the factor "group of feed producers" was found to be a significant risk factor in a non-temporal, non-spatial analysis of case-control data [1]. Based on this previous result we therefore interpret the observed clustering to be at least in part due to regional differences in feed production. As the information from the previous study suggested, the feed-production heterogeneities have most likely arisen due to both origin of MBM and production on mixed production lines. Feed producers were different in their sourcing of MBM and the use of mixed or dedicated production lines. Separation of production lines was not obligatory up until 1999 (Table 4), and both producers A and K have used mixed production lines up until then. Variation in feeding practice (i.e. between-farm variation in the per-animal feed uptake) is a less likely mechanism to have contributed to the clustering, as the amount of feed fed was not significantly associated with BSE in the previous study. Furthermore, a contribution due to on-farm cross-contamination as a consequence of mixed farming has not been detected. Indications against such a contribution are the fact that the 1997 cluster is in an area with small numbers of pigs and the observation that the southern part of the Netherlands with dense populations of pigs has a relatively small number of BSE cases.
Also in some other European countries where spatial clusters of BSE have been found, the most likely mechanisms were suggested to be related to exposure heterogeneity [4, 10–19, 23]. The feature of different spatial clustering occurring in different birth cohorts has also been observed elsewhere in Europe [10, 12, 14, 15]. In Switzerland, France and Great Britain it was difficult to distinguish effects due to feed processing differences from those arising from differences in feeding practices between mixed farms and farms with only ruminants, because typically feed producers with mixed production lines and mixed farms were spatially correlated. In a recent analysis of Swiss data for the period after the introduction of a ban on MBM in cattle feed, Schwermer et al. [31] found evidence of spatial association between BSE cases and feed producers where cattle feed was found MBM positive by cross-contamination. Cross-contamination in the feed-production process was also implicated in a recent study by Paul et al. [23], in which a spatial analysis of the French feed industry and BSE case data showed that BSE risk in France after a ban on MBM in ruminant feed is spatially linked to the use of MBM in non-ruminant feed.
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