Contaminated feed 'likely source' of isolated mad cow disease infections

The key measure for controlling BSE in the EU is a ban on the use of animal proteins in livestock feed
The key measure for controlling BSE in the EU is a ban on the use of animal proteins in livestock feed

The European Commission has asked the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) to investigate isolated cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease.

The response to BSE after the crisis of the 1980s in Europe has significantly reduced prevalence of the disease in cattle.

However, isolated cases are still being reported in the EU and for this reason the European Commission asked EFSA to investigate their origin.

The key measure for controlling BSE in the EU is a ban on the use of animal proteins in livestock feed.

This is because BSE can be transmitted to cattle through contaminated feed, mainly in the first year of life.

Sixty cases of classical BSE have been reported in cattle born after the EU ban was enforced in 2001.

None of these animals entered the food chain. Classical BSE is the type of BSE transmissible to humans.

Contamianted feed

The Commission asked EFSA to determine if these cases were caused by contaminated feed or whether they occurred spontaneously, i.e. without an apparent cause.

EFSA experts concluded that contaminated feed is the most likely source of infection.

This is because the infectious agent that causes BSE has the ability to remain active for many years.

Cattle may have been exposed to contaminated feed because the BSE infectious agent was present where feed was stored or handled.

A second possibility is that contaminated feed ingredients may have been imported from non-EU countries.

Experts could not rule out other causes due to the difficulty of investigating individual cases.

Some constraints are the long incubation period of the disease and the lack of detailed information available from farms at the time of the trace-back investigation.

EFSA experts made a series of recommendations to maintain and strengthen the EU monitoring and reporting system, and to evaluate new scientific data that become available.