Published Date: 2002-04-15 23:50:00
Subject: PRO/AH> BSE - update (05), Apr 2002
Archive Number: 20020415.3961
BSE - UPDATE (05) APR 2002
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See Also
BSE, potential for emergence in sheep - France 20020314.3742BSE, potential for emergence in sheep: OIE 20020131.3444
BSE - update, Jan 2002 20020130.3437
BSE - update (02) Feb 2002 20020222.3610
BSE - update (03) Mar 2002 20020303.3671
BSE - update (04) Mar 2002 20020325.3816
[1
Date: Sat 14 Apr 2002
From: ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org>
Source: Kyodo news, 4 Apr 2002 [edited
<http://home.kyodo.co.jp/all/display3para.jsp?an=20020404230&cate>
Ministry estimates BSE led to over 365 billions yen in damage
--------------------------------------------------------------
TOKYO: The farm ministry estimates that mad cow disease, or bovine
spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), caused more than 365 billion yen
(2.73 billion US dollars) in damage to the farm industry and related
industries, an official at the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
Ministry said Thursday.
Kikuhito Sugata, director general of the ministry's agricultural
production bureau, disclosed the figure at the House of Councillors
Budget Committee, saying it is "a bold estimate" of the damage caused
between last September, when BSE was first confirmed in Japan, and
February. Sugata said that in the 5-month period, revenues at farms
are estimated to have dropped 131 billion yen (992 million US
dollars) from a year before, while sales by meat-selling industries
are seen to have fallen 160 billion yen (1.21 billion US dollars).
Sales at "yakiniku" beef barbecue restaurants are estimated to have
declined between 74 billion yen and 90 billion yen (560-681 million
US dollars).
******
[2
Date: 14 Apr 2002
From: ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org>
Source: EU Press Release 09 Apr 2002 [edited
<http://europa.eu.int/comm/dgs/health_consumer/library/press/press229_en.pdf>
Recent opinions of SSC on BSE-related Issues; Extract
-----------------------------------------------------
On 5 Apr 2002, the Scientific Steering Committee (SSC) adopted 2
opinions on the issue of BSE in small ruminants, i.e., sheep and
goats. A first opinion suggests a strategy to investigate the
possible presence of BSE in small ruminants in sheep and goats that
tested positive for scrapie under the improved TSE surveillance
programme that started on 1 April 2002 in the European Union. A
second opinion states that, should BSE in small ruminants become
probable, a risk management strategy only based on the exclusion of
certain Specified Risk Materials would no longer be justified.
Appropriate product safety should be achieved by combining different
approaches. Under the current situation of no evidence of BSE being
present in small ruminants,the SSC sees no reasons to amend the list
of Specified Risk Materials to be removed from the food chain.
The SSC also discussed the recent paper from the Stanley Prusiner
team indicating that certain skeletal muscles of scrapie-infected
mice contain infectivity and may reproduce prions. The Committee
concludes that the boundary conditions of the research do not justify
its straight extrapolation to BSE-in-cattle conditions. The results
of infectivity experiments with regard to the presence of TSE
infectivity in muscles of cattle and sheep, including the recent
AFSSA [the French Food Safety Agency work reported on 27 Mar 2002,
were all consistently negative so far, and there is currently no
reason to revise the SSC opinions with regard to the safety of bovine
and sheep muscles.
The opinions are published on:
<http://europa.eu.int/comm/food/fs/sc/ssc/outcome_en.html>
******
[3
Date: 14 Apr 2002
From: ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org>
Source: Office International des Epizooties - BSE file, updated 04
Apr 2002 [edited
<http://www.oie.int/eng/info/en_esbincidence.htm>
Incidence rate of BSE in 19 infected countries, 1993 -- 2001
-------------------------------------------------------------
The annual incidence rate of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE)
for the years 1993 -- 2001, in countries that have reported cases
(number of indigenous cases per million bovines aged over 24 months)
has been as follows:
Country/1993/1994/1995/1996/1997/1998/1999/2000/2001
Austria/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0.96
Belgium/0/0/0/0/0.61/3.69/1.84/5.53/28.22
Czech Rep/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/2.85
Denmark/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/1/6.71
Finland/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/2.39
France/0.09/0.27/0.27/1.09/0.54/1.64/2.82/14.73/19.70
Germany/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/1.07/19.97
Greece/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/3.3
Ireland/4.57/5.43/4.57/20.28/21.39/20.79/2.83/38.17/61.80
Italy/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/14.1
Japan/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0//1.44
Luxembourg/0/0/0/0/10/0/0/0/0
Netherlands/0/0/0/0/1/1.01/1.03/1.07/10.25
Portugal/0/15.06/18.82/38.90/37.64/159.35/199.50/186.95/137.88
Slovakia/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/18.34
Slovenia/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/4.34
Spain/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0.59/24.23
Switzerland/30.3/67.6/73.6/48.5/45.4/16/58.7/40.6/49.1
GB/4401.9/4869.43/2954.75/1628.33/910.03/676.89/477.64/288.64/.....(GB
incidence rate for 2001 has not yet been provided).
--
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
[The rise in BSE incidence, as recorded during 2000 and 2001 in
several previously infected countries, was partly the result of the
introduced mass testing in healthy animals. This rise had been
earlier (1999) recorded in Switzerland, since this country was the
first one to implement the testing procedures in all slaughtered
adult cattle.
The EU has published recently a cumulative table of the mass BSE
testing during 2001
<http://europa.eu.int/comm/food/fs/bse/testing/bse_test18_en.pdf>.
The 15 member countries carried out a total of 8 507 629 tests of
adult cattle during the year, while the total population of adult
cattle was 40.8 million head. Most of the tested cattle -- 90.16
percent -- were healthy animals. Noteworthy, the first BSE cases in
Germany, Italy, and Austria were detected in tested, healthy cattle.
- Mod.AS
******
[4
Date: 14 Apr 2002
From: ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org>
Source: EC Health & Consumer Protection DG - Scientific Steering
Committee- outcome of discussions, opinions [edited
<http://europa.eu.int/comm/food/fs/sc/ssc/outcome_en.html>
Opinion on the safety of calf-derived rennet
---------------------------------------------
(adopted by the Scientific Steering Committee on 04-05 April 2002)
Provisional statement on the safety of calf-derived rennet for the
manufacture of pharmaceutical lactose:
As rennet may be sourced from certain animal species (besides using
biotechnological processes or certain plant sources), the SSC was
invited to prepare a general opinion on the safety of rennet obtained
from calves, adult cattle, small ruminants, and pigs with regard to
animal TSE risks and particularly BSE risks, including those
resulting from the method of harvesting, risks from the epithelium,
contamination with lymphoid tissues, contamination with feed, feed
bans, risk from cross-contaminated feed, and geographical sourcing.
The SSC asked the TSE/BSE ad hoc Group to prepare a scientific report
on the subject, which could serve as input into the discussions when
preparing its opinion. The report is currently being prepared, but
may not be finalized in the immediate future because it requires
input from several other opinions, which are still pending. These
include the opinions on safe sourcing of small ruminant materials
(addressing, amongst others, the safety of the small ruminant
stomachs) and the quantitative risk assessment of tallow and fats
(assessing, amongst others, the possible residual risk in milk
replacers fed to calves).
However, pending the finalization of the above comprehensive report
on animal rennet, an opinion on the safety of calf rennet used in the
production of whey, then used for lactose in medicinal products, is
urgently required. Rennet is used in animal and human foodstuffs
(including food supplements), in medicinal products, and for the
manufacture of lactose. In fact, approx. 80 percent of all
pharmaceutical drugs may contain lactose. The SSC adopts the
statement hereafter, which is based on the already exploitable parts
of the above draft TSE/BSE ad hoc Group report and on Report on the
risk and regulatory assessment of lactose prepared using calf rennet
adopted by the Committee for Proprietary Medicinal Products (CPMP),
Biotechnology Working party of the European Agency for the Evaluation
of Medicinal Products (EMEA).
The SSC shares the conclusion of 27 Feb 2002 of EMEA that the BSE
risk in pharmaceutical-grade lactose is negligible when rennet is
sourced from the abomasum of bovine calves that are fit for human
consumption and produced according to the steps as referred to in
EMEA's report (Doc.Ref:EMEA/CPMP/BWP/337/02/Final) of 11-13 Feb 2002.
******
[5
Date: 14 Apr 2002
From: ProMED-mail<promed@promedmail.org>
Source: Meat news com, 9 Apr 2002 [edited
<http://www.meatnews.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=article&artnum=3026>
France Alters BSE Regulations
------------------------------
French food safety agency changes regulations from specified risk
materials in veal calves.
France has changed its regulations regarding the removal of some
specified risk materials from veal cattle. The agriculture ministry
has passed a new law not requiring the thymus in young cattle born
after 1 Jan 2002 to be removed. The cattle have to have been reared
only on their mother's milk or on powdered milk, and the carcasses
have to be accompanied by a certificate signed by a vet.
The French food safety agency AFSSA said that the thymus could be
consumed without risk.
Any veal products entering France containing the thymus have also to
be accompanied by a certificate signed by a vet. The French
agriculture ministry is also looking at veal from animals that are
fed feeds other than milk or milk powder. Tests are currently being
carried out by AFSSA and the results will be published shortly. It is
thought that calves fed on milk substitutes will also not present a
risk.
--
ProMED-mail
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