Update of BSE in French Goat case
The February 2005 Dairy Goat Digest featured an article about a case of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) in a French goat. This was the first confirmed case of BSE in a species other than cattle. The consumption of brain or spinal cord tissue from cattle infected with BSE (known as mad cow disease) has been linked to variant Creutzfeld-Jakob Disease (vCJD) in humans. Approximately 140 people are known to have died of vCJD in Britain. In July 2005 a panel of European scientific advisors concluded that the
likely prevalence of BSE in the European Union goat population is very
low and that the current risk is considered to be small for goats born
after a European wide ban on feed containing meat and bone meal (MBM)
was introduced in 2001. MBM is thought to have been the most likely route
of BSE infection to cattle.
Currently there is another suspected case of BSE in a UK goat born before
a feed ban was introduced in that country in 1988. The suspect goat was
slaughtered in 1990 and is undergoing additional laboratory tests for
BSE. Results will be completed in two years. Should another case of BSE
in a goat be confirmed, the European Food Safety Authority may have to
re-examine its risk assessment for BSE in goats.
For more information: Toll Free: 1-877-424-1300 Local: (519) 826-4047 E-mail: ag.info.omafra@ontario.ca
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