§ Mr. Campbell-SavoursTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the development of(a) a live test and (b) a post-mortem test for the indentification of BSE in cattle. [11]
§ Mr. Rooker(a) MAFF has put considerable resources into the development of a test to detect BSE in live cattle, but so far no test suitable for use in the field has been developed. At present BSE can be suspected in the live animal only on the basis of observations of the clinical signs exhibited: confirmation of the clinical opinion is dependent on laboratory examination of brain tissue after death. Additional resources are being invested into the development of a BSE diagnostic test. To stimulate research in this area MAFF recently launched an Open Competition for independent scientists to develop alternative novel approaches. MAFF is also working in collaboration with French, Dutch and American researchers in the development of tests. Although lines of investigation using urine, blood and cerebrospinal fluid show some promise on clinically affected animals, they are unlikely to be of value in the immediate future in diagnosing sub-clinically infected cattle.
(b) Currently the identification of BSE in cattle is undertaken by the Veterinary Laboratories Agency (VLA) by histopathological examination of post-mortem samples of brain tissue. Research is under way to find a test which could be applied commercially. Any post-mortem test has to take into account the pathogenesis of the disease, which determines where infectivity will be present at any point in time after infection. There also needs to be a plentiful supply of disease specific monoclonal antibody that has 165W been validated for the particular purpose to which the test is to be applied. All claims that such tests are currently available are overstated.