§ Baroness Byfordasked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the results from research undertaken by Professor Wilesmith showing that neither calves nor their surrogate mothers contracted BSE, what steps are they taking to establish why 500 animals in the United Kingdom contracted the disease in 2001. [HL2953]
51WA
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Whitty)The major cause of BSE cases has been the contamination of ruminant feed with mammalian meat and bone meal (MBM) containing the disease agent. Measures in place to protect animal health have been significantly strengthened over time, notably in 1995 and 1996. Of course measures taken will not protect cattle already incubating the disease but will prevent further infection through feed. The normal range of the incubation period makes it inevitable that further cases, which were infected before the enhanced measures became effective, will continue to appear, albeit at a declining rate.
More significant are BSE cases borne after 1 August 1996 when UK feed controls are considered to have been fully effective. The department continues to examine veterinary advice on the possible causes of all such cases for evidence of control failure or new routes of transmission of the disease. Such routes may include maternal transmission, environmental contamination or contamination of imported feed ingredients. To date, BSE has been confirmed in 14 animals born in the UK after 1 August 1996.