§ Dr. Lynne JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what research he has evaluated on the ability of the human immune system to fight against infection by the agent responsible for BSE in cattle and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans; and if he will make a statement. [24176]
§ Mr. HoramThe Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee has considered this issue and has concluded that the classical immune response is not seen in these diseases, since the human immune system does not play a major role in protection against the agents causing spongiform encephalopathies. The evidence from scrapie in sheep suggests that immuno-suppressed subjects are at no greater risk than those whose systems are intact.
§ Mr. FisherTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will publish all the scientific evidence he has evaluated since 1992 on bovine spongiform encephalopathy. [24539]
§ Mr. HoramThe Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee provides the Government with expert scientific advice on BSE and CJD. In 1995, SEAC published "Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies: A Summary of Present Knowledge and Research", copies of which are available in the Library. Arrangements are in hand to publish the evidence about a previously unrecognised form of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in a scientific journal as soon as is practicable.