§ The Countess of Marasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they are aware of the work BEC Schreuder et al in the Netherlands on the pre-clinical diagnosis of scrapie in sheep, and whether they will conduct tests to ascertain the effectiveness of their methods for the early detection of BSE in cattle and CJD in humans.
Lord LucasYes. The Director of the Veterinary Laboratories Agency has visited the laboratory in the Netherlands and we are planning to co-operate with the Dutch scientists to see whether this test can be extended to the detection of BSE in cattle.
The Department of Health have not yet reached a view as to whether this recently published work could be extended to the diagnosis of CJD.