§ Lord Renfrew of Kaimsthornasked Her Majesty's Government:
What investigations have been made into the possibility of maternal transmission of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE); and whether they considered this to be as likely an explanation for the continuing occurrence of BSE in the United Kingdom since the 1988 ban on feeding animal protein to ruminants as the possibility of cross-contamination in production lines for animal and poultry feedstuffs.
Lord LucasMaternal transmission of BSE has always been recognised as a possibility; an experiment, called the cohort study, to assess whether or not it does in practice occur is nearing completion. Details of this experiment are given in the latest Progress Report on BSE, a copy of which is in the Library of the House.
It is clear, however, from analysis of born after the ban (BAB) cases, that if maternal transmission occurs it does so at a very low level. There is no detectable excess of BSE BAB cases in the offspring of cows which have succumbed to BSE. Exposure to cattle feed accidentally cross-contaminated with meat and bonemeal (MBM) is undoubtedly the major cause of BAB cases.