[Jacob-list] Fwd: PRO/AH> Scrapie, atypical, sheep - UK and Ireland
Katherine Wisor
creeksendfarm at mac.com
Fri Dec 10 05:51:33 EST 2004
Begin forwarded message:
> From: ProMED-mail <promed at promed.isid.harvard.edu>
> Date: December 10, 2004 2:54:03 AM EST
> To: promed-ahead at promedmail.org
> Subject: PRO/AH> Scrapie, atypical, sheep - UK and Ireland
> Reply-To: promedNOREPLY at promed.isid.harvard.edu
>
>
> SCRAPIE, ATYPICAL, SHEEP - UK AND IRELAND
> *****************************************
> A ProMED-mail post
> <http://www.promedmail.org>
> ProMED-mail is a program of the
> International Society for Infectious Diseases
> <http://www.isid.org>
>
> [1]
> Date: 09 Dec 2004
> From: ProMED-mail <promed at promedmail.org>
> Source: The Herald, 8 Dec 2004 [edited]
> <http://www.theherald.co.uk/business/29325.html>
>
>
> New strain of scrapie hits sheep industry
> -----------------------------------------
> The sheep industry was set on edge yesterday following an announcement
> by
> the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs [DEFRA] in
> London
> that tests had detected a new strain of scrapie, the fatal brain
> disease of
> sheep associated with BSE in cattle and, by implication, variant CJD
> in the
> human population.
>
> Senior officials with both DEFRA and the Scottish Executive's
> environment
> and rural affairs department were at pains to stress, however, that the
> discovery is not linked to BSE and that there is no need for consumer
> concerns over food safety.
>
> What is of major concern is that the government-funded Veterinary
> Laboratories Agency in Weybridge, Surrey, has confirmed that 83
> "atypical"
> cases of scrapie have been found over the past 3 years in samples from
> 110
> 000 sheep brains tested. More worrying is the acknowledgement that of
> those
> 83 abnormal results, 12 have been found in sheep with the genotype
> normally
> associated with the highest degree of resistance to scrapie.
>
> A statement from DEFRA confirmed that the National Scrapie Plan, which
> aims
> to rid the UK sheep flock of 37 million of the disease, will continue
> in
> its current form.
>
> The UK, with the largest sheep flock in the European Union, is ahead
> of all
> other member states -- with the exception of the Netherlands -- in
> achieving its goal of scrapie-free status within a decade.
>
> 3 years ago the UK government and the devolved administrations drew up
> a
> contingency plan that, in the event of a proven link between scrapie
> and
> BSE, virtually every sheep would be slaughtered. That plan, in time,
> proved
> to be based on a seriously flawed scientific assessment.
>
> The UK is obliged, under direction from the European Commission, to
> conduct
> brain tests each year on 10 000 sheep over 18 months of age which are
> processed in abattoirs, as well as a similar total which die on farms.
> Results have shown that only 0.3 per cent of these sheep have been
> infected
> with scrapie, with many devoid of clinical symptoms.
>
> But it has been almost impossible to trace back the 83 "atypical" cases
> back to the farm of origin. This has prompted fears that the commission
> will insist the UK puts in place an individual identification scheme
> for
> sheep. This has been resisted by the UK on the grounds that no other
> member
> state runs sheep on an extensive regime such as in the Highlands and
> in the
> Welsh mountains, where stocking rates are very low. Tagging every lamb
> at
> birth and recording maternal details would be impossible.
>
> A spokesperson for National Farmers Union (NFU) Scotland expressed
> support
> for the National Scrapie Plan (NSP). "We knew that abnormal cases
> could be
> thrown up, given the scale of the testing regime which promotes the
> most
> resistant genotypes. These will not be guaranteed as totally
> resistant, but
> they represent the best options for producers."
>
> [byline: Dan Buglass]
>
> [For details on the NSP, go to
> <http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/bse/othertses/scrapie/nsp/
> index.html>].
>
> ******
> [2]
> Date: Thu, 9 Dec 2004
> From: A-Lan Banks <A-Lan.Banks at thomson.com>
> Source: Ireland On-Line, 9 Dec 2004 [edited]
> <http://212.2.162.45/news/story.asp?
> j=126806072&p=yz68x6778&n=126806832>
>
>
> Department confirms new strain of scrapie in sheep
> --------------------------------------------------
> The Department of Agriculture has confirmed that a new strain of
> scrapie is
> emerging in Irish sheep. The disease is a fatal, degenerative illness
> affecting the central nervous system of sheep and goats and [like] BSE
> in
> cattle and CJD in humans [is caused by a mutated prion protein].
>
> The department's confirmation of the existence of the illness in
> Ireland
> came just hours after the British authorities said that 80 cases of an
> unknown strain of scrapie had been found in sheep there.
>
> --
> ProMED-mail
> <promed at promedmail.org>
>
> [Atypical cases of scrapie have been reported, since 2003, also from
> Norway, France, and Switzerland. So far, the scrapie strains involved
> in
> these cases have not been shown to be related to BSE.
>
> Following the recently published findings by a research group in France
> that they suspect the presence of a TSE (transmissible spongiform
> encephalopathy) infection in a goat's brain which tests cannot
> distinguish
> from BSE, the European Commission submitted data received from the
> French
> authorities to the Community Reference Laboratory (CRL) for TSEs based
> in
> Weybridge, England, for an evaluation by an expert group. The issue was
> discussed during the 85th meeting of the Spongiform Encephalopathy
> Advisory
> Committee (SEAC), held in Cardiff on 30 Nov 2004. The committee was
> informed that, although the data available are consistent with BSE, a
> definitive interpretation could not be provided until further data from
> mouse bioassays were available in about 2 months. - Mod.AS]
>
> [see also:
> BSE, goats - France 2002: suspected 20041030.2929
> Scrapie, sheep - Switzerland: OIE 20040525.1405
> Scrapie, atypical, sheep - UK (02) 20040409.0965
> Scrapie, atypical, sheep - UK 20040408.0952
> Scrapie, atypical, sheep - France: OIE 20040201.0390
> 2003
> ---
> Scrapie - Norway: new phenotype 20031117.2857
> 2002
> ---
> BSE, potential for emergence in sheep - UK 20021119.5847
> BSE? Sheep - USA (Vermont) 20020412.3937
> BSE, potential for emergence in sheep 20020106.3180]
>
> ................arn/pg/sh
>
>
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