§ Lord Vinsonasked Her Majesty's Government:
What is the likelihood of BSE being found in sheepmeat, given that sheep are normally slaughtered under the age of 18 months, that contaminated meat and bone feed were withdrawn in 1986 and that recent research shows maternal transmission of BSE in cattle to be unlikely. [HL3316]
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§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Whitty)Theoretically, sheep could have contacted BSE from infected animal feed and it could have spread from sheep to sheep despite the introduction of feed controls.
To date, no cases of BSE have been found in the national sheep flock. However, the numbers tested are still relatively low because there is no validated, rapid method for differentiating between BSE and Scrapie. We have to use a number of different tests, including where possible bioassay in mice.
Of course the Government have in place a comprehensive risk management strategy should the theoretical risk of BSE in sheep become a real one. This includes removal of specified risk material from the food chain for all animals over 12 months old, consistent with available risk assessment advice from the EU Scientific Steering Committee.