Expert warns of burial site CJD risk

25 May 2001



Expert warns of burial site CJD risk

By FWi staff

A TOP government advisor on BSE has admitted that he would not drink water from near foot-and-mouth burial sites, reports the Daily Express.

Professor Peter Smith said there was a chance of developing variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, the human form of the disease.

Cattle aged more than five years old — those most at risk from BSE — have been buried at 90 sites.

Prof Smith, who is deputy chairman of SEAC, estimated that the risk of contracting vCJD from infected water was as high as one in 200,000.

The Ministry of Agriculture told the Express that it has not ruled out digging up carcasses after risk assessment checks have been carried out.

Prof Smith issued this warning on the day that the 100th case of vCJD was confirmed. Only six victims are still alive.

Meanwhile, Agriculture minister Nick Brown was greeted by jeering protesters when he visited the latest foot-and-mouth hotspot in North Yorkshire.

Ministers denied fresh allegations that they massaged disease statistics for political reasons, reports The Guardian.

A Cumbrian consultant heard from MAFF officials that the number culled as dangerous contacts was 80% more than cases being officially recorded, it reports.

Miles MacInnes, director of Penrith-based property consultants CSH, said he was told that 550 Cumbrian farms had livestock culled as dangerous contacts.

And in another development, it has emerged that MAFF was aware of the dangers of pigswill long before the outbreak.

A memo from Lincoln-based government vet Charles Ross, revealed to Sky News, described the practice as “a timebomb”.

Feeding swill to pigs is widely believed to be the source of the outbreak in Heddon-on-the-Wall, Northumberland.

And The Times reports that ramblers are expected to flock to the Peak District after footpaths are re-opened on Friday (25 May).

Despite misgivings from 2000 livestock farmers in the park, the Peak District National Park Authority has sanctioned the move.

Appeals were lodged up until Wednesday (23 May) night, as concerns were heightened by the new cluster of the disease in the Yorkshire Dales.

• Daily Express, 25 May, 2001, page 1, 4 and 12
  
• The Guardian, 25 May, 2001, page 1 and 4
  
• The Times, 25 May, 2001, page 7
  

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