HL Deb 29 June 2000 vol 614 cc106-8WA
Lord Hoyle

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What is the most recent date on which an animal was born which was subsequently confirmed as having BSE. [HL3114]

Baroness Hayman

An animal born on 25 August 1996 was confirmed as a BSE case on 27 June.

The date is significant because it is after 1 August 1996, when extra control measures on animal feed containing mammalian meat and bone meal (MBM) has been implemented. The State Veterinary Service will be carrying out a special investigation into the background. However, experts have always foreseen that a few cases of BSE could be confirmed in animals born after this date. Indeed, an assessment last year on behalf of SEAC assumed that, by the end of 2000, up to 19 cases born after August 1996 might be identified.

There is no risk to food safety as a result of this case. The cow, aged 44 months at the time of slaughter, would not have entered the human food chain because of the rule which prevents animals aged over thirty months. The offspring of this case has already been traced, and will not enter the food chain either.

Furthermore, this animal would have been ineligible for our Date Based Export Scheme (DBES) not only because of its age but, in any event, also because its mother was slaughtered as a casualty—in November 1996—less than three months after the animal concerned was born. Under the DBES the dam must have survived for at least six months after birth of the calf and shown no signs of BSE.

There is an automatic cull of offspring of animals which are confirmed cases of BSE. This would not, however, prevent cases of maternally transmitted BSE where the dam was slaughtered—for reasons other than BSE—when the disease was in it pre-clinical phrase. This could have happened in this case.

Investigations into the source of infection are continuing. In accordance with standing procedures cohort animals born six months either side of this animal will be traced, placed under movement restrictions and barred from the food chain. The State Veterinary Service will investigate thoroughly the background to this case in order to establish whether anything about the BSE epidemic can be learnt from it.

This case does not change in any way our view that we have the toughest rules in place to protect public health and to eradicate the disease. The overall BSE epidemic continues to decline along predicted lines. Details for Great Britain are given in the table below (also lodged in the House Library).

Year of Birth Total No. of confirmed cases
1974 1
1975 0
1976 2
1977 10
1978 6
1979 41
1980 101
1981 261
1982 1,393
1983 4,461
1984 8,067
1985 11,064
1986 19,731
1987 36,868
1988 22,179
1989 12,642
1990 5,632
1991 4,552
1992 3,097
1993 2,234
1994 1,056
1995 194
1996 2
Unknown* 43,329
Total 176,923
(Data as at 27 June 2000).
* Before record-keeping requirements were strengthened in 1995–96.