§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what guidelines his Department issues to those handling tissue from the nervous system of cows infected with BSE; and if he will make a statement. [13805]
§ Angela EagleOccupational exposure to the agent BSE in nervous tissue may occur during work in research laboratories, post mortem rooms and during the slaughter and disposal of infected cattle. In view of the uncertainty about the risks from BSE, prudent and precautionary worker safety measures have been recommended since 1989. Guidance has been prepared on behalf of the Health and Safety Commission, the Department of Health and the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food by the Advisory Committee on Dangerous Pathogens (ACDP).
Guidance from ACDP on the health and safety requirements for laboratory and post mortem workers was published in 1994. It recommends the use of special containment conditions, safety equipment and decontamination measures for all work with BSE. General ACDP guidance for other occupational groups was published in August 1996. It recommends the maintenance of high standards of occupational hygiene when working with cattle and new methods of working to avoid or minimise exposure to tissues of cattle that may carry the agent of BSE infectivity. Copies have been deposited in the House of Commons Library.
Recent evidence on the link between BSE and the new variant of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (nvCJD) in humans means that BSE must now be considered a biological agent (human pathogen) within the meaning of the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) Regulations 1994. ACDP have advised that to date there is no evidence of occupational transmission of either BSE or CJD and that none of the cases of nvCJD has any obvious link with occupational exposure to BSE. ACDP consider that the existing published guidance on BSE continues to provide adequate control. The 1994 guidance is being revised and updated in any event and will be published early in 1998.