Subject: World Health Organisation Report on BSE

From: [email-masked] (J Ralph Blanchfield)
Date: Fri, 05 Apr 1996 20:37:34 GMT

Hello All,

Subscribers who have not seen it already will be interested in the
outcome of the World Health Organisation's emergency two-day
consultation in Geneva (2-3 April 1996) with veterinary and medical
experts fromthirty countries. The following is the statement issued by
WHO :- 

Press Release WHO/28

3 April 1996

                INTERNATIONAL EXPERTS PROPOSE MEASURES TO LIMIT

                  SPREAD OF BSE AND REDUCE POSSIBLE HUMAN RISKS

                                        FROM DISEASE

At a consultation organized by the World Health Organization (WHO) in
Geneva on 2-3 April 1996, a group of international experts reviewed
the public health issues related to bovine spongiform encephalopathy
(BSE) and the emergence of a new variant of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease
(CJD), as officially reported by the United Kingdom (UK) on 20 March
1996.

The consultation made recommendations, based on the latest scientific
information, to minimize transmission of BSE among animals and to
reduce as completely as possible any exposure of humans to the BSE
agent.

Findings of the Consultation

Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy:

BSE is a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) in cattle which
was first identified in the United Kingdom in 1986. It is one of a
group of similar degenerative diseases which occur in several animal
species. Transmission of BSE to cattle appears to have been via
contaminated meat and bone meal in concentrate feed, with sheep or
cattle being the original source. The UK is the only country with a
high incidence of the disease, and the epidemic there appears to have
been due mainly to recycling of affected bovine material back to
cattle before the ruminant (cattle, sheep and goats) feed ban in July
1988 took effect. There is no evidence to date of either maternal or
horizontal transmission of BSE. 

The incidence of the disease is declining significantly in the UK,
although the measures introduced have not thus far halted the
epidemic. The worldwide distribution of BSE is not known precisely,
but it has been reported at a much lower incidence than in native
cattle in other European countries. In these latter countries only
part of the BSE cases could be related to consumption of possibly
BSE-contaminated feed.

Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (V-CJD):

The group reviewed the clinical and pathological data from the 10
cases in the UK. The disease has occurred at younger ages than is
usual for classical CJD and shows several clinical and pathological
differences. Based on findings in these 10 cases, the group
established a case definition to facilitate better surveillance, which
is necessary to determine the incidence and distribution of this
syndrome. 

The group concluded that there is no definite link between BSE and
V-CJD, but that circumstantial evidence suggests exposure to BSE may
be the most likely hypothesis. Further research on both diseases is
urgently required.

Exposure to BSE has already been greatly reduced by measures taken in
the UK. Implementation of the recommendations by this consultation
should further reduce risk from exposure to BSE to minimal levels.

Recommendations

Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy:

1. No part of any animal which has shown signs of TSE should enter any
food chain, human or animal. All countries must ensure the slaughter
and safe disposal of TSE-affected animals so that TSE infectivity
cannot enter any food chain. All countries
should review their rendering procedures to ensure that they
effectively inactivate TSE agents.

2. All countries should establish continuous surveillance and
compulsory notification for BSE according to recommendations
established by the Office International des Epizooties in Paris. In
the absence of surveillance data, the BSE status of a country must be
considered as unknown.

3. Countries where BSE exists in native cattle should not permit
tissues that are likely to contain the BSE agent to enter any food
chain, human or animal. 

4. All countries should ban the use of ruminant tissues in ruminant
feed.

5. With respect to specific products:

* Tests on milk from BSE-infected animals have not shown any BSE
infectivity, and there is evidence from other animal and human
spongiform encephalopathies to suggest that milk will not transmit
these diseases. Milk and milk products, even in countries with high
incidence of BSE, are therefore considered safe. 

* Gelatin is considered safe for human consumption since its
preparation involves a chemical extraction process that destroys BSE
infectivity.

* Tallow is likewise considered safe if effective rendering procedures
are in place.

6. With respect to medicinal products, which differ from food in that
they can be injected as well as taken orally, measures to minimize the
risk of transmitting the BSE agent were developed at a previous WHO
consultation in 1991 and continue to be applicable. 

* As more information becomes available these measures will be
reviewed and strengthened if necessary. 

* The importance of obtaining materials destined for the
pharmaceutical industry from countries which have a surveillance
system in place and which report either no or sporadic cases of BSE is
reiterated.

* Removal and inactivation procedures contribute to the reduction of
the risk of infection. But it must be recognized that the BSE agent is
remarkably resistant to physico-chemical procedures which destroy the
infectivity of common microorganisms.

7. Research on TSE should be promoted, especially on rapid diagnosis,
agent characterization, and epidemiology of TSEs in
humans and animals.

Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (V-CJD):

1 The geographic distribution of V-CJD, although reported at present
only in the UK, needs to be further investigated.

2 While the most likely hypothesis at present for this newly
recognized variant is exposure to the BSE agent, further data from
scientific studies on these variant cases are urgently required to
establish a link. More monitoring and surveillance studies on all
forms of CJD are required throughout the world, modelled on current
European collaborative studies.

3 Exposure to BSE from beef and beef products has already been
substantially reduced by the measures taken in the UK. Exposure to BSE
has always been lower in other countries. The group considered that
implementation of their recommendations will ensure that any
continuing risk of exposure to BSE in beef and beef products will be
reduced to a
minimum.

As surveillance worldwide is increased for both BSE and V-CJD, more
information will become available in the coming months. WHO will keep
these developments under review and update the recommendations as
appropriate.

For further Information, please contact Philippe Stroot, Media
Relations, Health Communications and Public Relations, WHO, Geneva,
tel. (41 22) 791 2535, fax (41 22) 791 4858, E-mail [email-masked] or
Dr David Heymann, Director, Division of Emerging and other
Communicable Diseases Surveillance and Control, WHO, Geneva. Tel. (41
22) 791 2660. Fax (41 22) 791 4198. E-mail [email-masked] All WHO
Press Releases, Fact Sheets and Features can be obtained on Internet
on the WHO home page http: //www.who.ch/ 

end of WHO statement.

Regards

Ralph
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J Ralph Blanchfield
Food Science, Food Technology & Food Law Consultant
Chair, IFST Member Relations & Services Committee
Web Editor, Institute of Food Science & Technology
IFST Web address: http://www.easynet.co.uk/ifst/ 
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