§ Mr. Martyn JonesTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on how the proposed amendment to article 18(6) of the Specified Bovine Material Order and the proposed protocol for cleansing SBM rendering lines will ensure the deactivation of the BSE agent; and if he will make a statement. [13005]
§ Mrs. BrowningAn amendment to article 18(6) of the Specified Bovine Material (No. 3) Order was made on 30 December 1996 and came into force on 24 January 1997. This followed a public consultation paper issued on 5 December, a copy of which has been placed in the Library of the House. The amendment provides for rendering lines currently processing specified bovine material over 30-months scheme—OTMS—cattle carcases to revert to handling other forms of animal waste. A switch can take place only after a line has undergone thorough cleansing in accordance with a protocol and under the supervision of the State Veterinary Service.
Very little infective material is likely to enter rendering plants as cattle suspected of showing clinical signs suggestive of BSE are destroyed by incineration. However, some animals may be incubating disease even though they do not show clinical signs of infection. The number of such animals—based on independent research. Anderson et al. 1996—is estimated to be around 4,600 of the 1.1 million OTMS animals slaughtered in 1996 and on that basis the amount of brain and spinal cord, in which infectivity is most likely to be, is estimated to be about 0.0008 per cent. In addition, the rendering process itself is expected to reduce any infectivity present 50-fold.
The cleansing protocol is based on physical cleaning of plants followed by its exposure to sodium hydroxide at pH13. Sodium hydroxide is recognised as a useful decontaminating agent and has the added benefit of being 354W a defattening agent to aid in the breakdown of any residual particulate matter not removed during initial physical cleaning. Cleansing on these lines should prove effective given the low level of infectivity that could be entering rendering plants.
Mr. Alan W. WilliamsTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he expects to receive the final report from the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee on maternal transmission of BSE. [12821]
§ Mrs. BrowningThe Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee will consider current evidence on maternal transmission at its next meeting on 5 February. It is up to the committee to decide whether it wishes to report finally then or to consider the matter further.
Mr. WilliamsTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment he has made of the research published by Professor John Collinge inThe Lancet on 10 January in respect of the development of a live test for BSE in cattle. [12826]
§ Mrs. BrowningThe research published by Professor Collinge was an adaptation of his own techniques for the study of the protein PrP in brain tissue, and that of others in studying the distribution of abnormal—protease resistant—PrP in the bodies of infected animals and humans. A collaborative project is under way to assess the usefulness of Professor Collinge's approach on brain tissue after slaughter, but it is likely to be less effective in the diagnosis of BSE in the live animal following biopsy of other tissue.
Evidence has already been published from several groups of workers about the distribution of abnormal PrP and infectivity in the body of infected animals, especially sheep, and most specifically in the lymphoreticular organs such as the spleen, lymph nodes and tonsils. Abnormal PrP can be detected at certain times in these tissues in scrapie-infected sheep; consequently, we have been aware of the potential to use such accessible tissues as tonsils and superficial lymph nodes for the diagnosis of BSE.
Unfortunately it is clear that the pathogenesis of BSE is quite different from scrapie—and, it seems, Creutzfeld-Jakob disease—in this respect. It has not proved possible to detect abnormal PrP in lymphoreticular tissues of infected cattle using existing technology. This may mean that even more sensitive techniques are required for cattle, but it is also possible that these tissues simply do not contain the infectious agent.
Mr. WilliamsTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will estimate the total amount of contaminated animal feed (a) consumed by British cattle in each year since 1980 and (b) exported during that period. [12827]
§ Mrs. BrowningInformation is not available for estimating animal feed contamination. Local authorities are responsible for enforcing the Feeding Stuffs Regulations 1995, as amended, and certain other legislative measures that are intended to protect animal feedingstuffs against contamination.
Mr. WilliamsTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what plans he has to introduce a further selective cull based on maternal transmission. [12829]
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§ Mr. BaldryWe do not yet have definitive advice on the results of the experiment which might indicate maternal transmission of BSE. The Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee will consider this again at its February meeting and may decide that it can offer definitive advice at that point or to consider the matter further at a future meeting. We shall consider whether the selective cull currently in progress will need to be adjusted in any way when we have SEAC's advice.
§ Mr. SalmondTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what arrangements are in place to ensure the separation of cattle in the over 30-months scheme from those outside the scheme in abattoirs. [13473]
§ Mr. BaldryEC regulation 716/96 requires that no bovine animals destined for human or animal consumption are present in the abattoir when animals are being slaughtered under the over-30 months scheme. To satisfy this requirement, abattoirs may not slaughter other bovine animals on the day on which scheme animals are processed.