HL Deb 09 November 1992 vol 540 cc1-2WA
Lord Kennet

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether it is their view that bovine spongiform encephalopathy is incapable of being passed to human beings or only that there is no evidence to show that it ever has been.

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health (Baroness Cumberlege)

There has been no evidence to suggest a causal link between bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and individual cases of human spongiform encephalopathy, and no change in the epidemiological characteristics of human spongiform encephalopathy following the advent of BSE. However, in view of the remote theoretical risk of BSE transmission to humans, the Government have acted to ensure that bovine specified offals which might carry the infection are removed from the food chain.