National cull if sheep get BSE

27 September 2001



National cull if sheep get BSE

By FWi staff

GOVERNMENT options if BSE is found in sheep include a mass cull of the national sheep flock, according to a contingency plan published by Defra on Thursday (27 September)

But this is the very worst-case scenario, and is extremely unlikely to happen, Animal Health Minister Elliott Morley told journalists in London.

Mr Morley said the government has compiled a contingency plan in response to the Philips Report into BSE, which calls for more openness in government.

He insisted lots of other options will be considered as well as the mass cull, which could involve 40 million sheep.

The contingency plan identifies using diagnostic testing or genotyping to identify sheep that could be allowed into the human food chain.

But the plan also considers the possibility of extending Specified Risk Material (SRM) controls.

It also looks at limiting how the problem could be limited to particular areas or flocks within the UK.

“There is a theoretical possibility of sheep getting BSE because sheep have been given the disease by feeding them BSE brain material in laboratory conditions,” Mr Morley said.

He said that there were two independent studies looking for BSE in sheep affected with scrapie, but he insisted they had not yet identified BSE.

The need to slaughter would be reduced by the fact that the government has already launched a National Scrapie Eradication programme.

This aims to identify and breed from animals that are resistant to scrapie.

It is believed that if BSE is present in sheep it is currently masked by scrapie.

The government has also published its response to the BSE inquiry.

The response identifies the most important issues raised in the report.

These are:

• The way in which the government uses scientific advisory committees and expert advice;
• Openness;
• The importance of a consistent and proportionate approach to risk management;
• The conduct of government.

Mr Morley said: “The government accepts just about every Philips recommendation – a lot of them have already been put in place.”