§ Lord Renfrew of Kaimsthornasked Her Majesty's Government:
What explanation they have for the infection with BSE of cattle born after the ban imposed on 18th July 1988 upon the use of ruminant-derived meat and bone meal as a feedstuff, and what confidence they have that the factors permitting such infection have now been eliminated.
Lord LucasWhen the first case of BSE in an animal born after the July 1988 feed ban was confirmed in March 1991 extensive investigations were put in place to look at the food sources to which the animal had been exposed as well as at other possible risks of 209WA transmission, such as vertical or horizontal transmission, to determine whether feed or some other route was responsible for the infection. Initial studies showed that some feed manufactured before the ban had been retained on farms and used after the ban had been introduced. The investigations continued as born after the ban (BAB) cases occurred in animals born in 1989 and subsequent years. By autumn 1994 it was apparent that the geographical distribution of BAB cases differed from that of pre-feed ban BSE cases generally. BAB cases were more prevalent in areas with a high percentage of pig and poultry farms. Pig and poultry feed could then legitimately contain meat and bonemeal (MBM) and in such areas there was a higher possibility of cross contamination of ruminant feed with MBM. Also, in August 1994 samples of cattle feed taken on a farm were shown to be cross contaminated with MBM, demonstrating that such cross contamination could occur in practice. Finally, the results of the so-called case control study looking in detail at possible causes of BSE in BAB animals were obtained at the end of 1994. This study found no evidence of horizontal or vertical transmission of BSE in BAB cases and concluded that a foodborne source of infection was the most likely explanation. (Details of this work were published in the Veterinary Record of 1st April 1995 and given in the May 1995 Progress Report on BSE, a copy of which is in the Library of the House). Putting together all of this evidence allowed the conclusion to be drawn that most BAB BSE cases have resulted from exposure to accidentally contaminated ruminant feed.
The measures put in place by the Government since 20th March, in particular the extension of the prohibition on the feeding of mammalian protein to all farm animals and the stricter controls in slaughterhouses, should eliminate the risk of production and subsequent consumption of accidentally contaminated animal feed.
Recent results have shown that maternal transmission of BSE (i.e., from a cow to her calf) can occur, albeit at a very low rate, around 1 per cent. under field conditions. There is evidence that the risk is greater for a calf born within six months of the mother dying of BSE. Some BAB cases may, therefore, have arisen as a result of maternal transmission. However, only 1,205 of the 28,464 BAB cases confirmed up to 1st August 1996 are themselves the offspring of BSE dams, and the feed-borne source of infection remains the major route of infection of BAB cases.
§ Lord Renfrew of Kaimsthornasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they intend to compensate farmers undergoing loss as a result of the BSE cattle in cases where the cattle in question have been fed mammalian meat and bone meal subsequent to and in contravention of the Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Order 1988.
Lord LucasWe have no evidence to suggest that any of the BSE cases so far confirmed in cattle were caused by deliberate, as opposed to accidental or inadvertent, feeding of ruminant protein after the210WA introduction of the feed ban. In these circumstances, and given the difficulty and cost of establishing precisely what happened in individual cases up to eight years ago, it is inappropriate to seek to distinguish between farmers in terms of compensation payments.