ordered
More sheep tests
ordered
THEEUCommission has ordered a massive increase in the number of sheep that must be tested for transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) amid growing concerns that BSE could be lurking in flocks.
The decision by EU vets means that 560,000 sheep/year will have to be tested in all member states, compared with the 164,000 at present. The change in rule comes into operation on Apr 1.
At this weeks farm council, EU food safety commissioner David Byrne revealed that a number of new controls are in the pipeline, including a further extension of the list of specified risk materials, culling of scrapie-infected flocks and more use of genotyping of sheep breeds.
"I accept the risks of transmission of BSE to sheep remains theoretical, but we must be pro-active in putting in place a strong protective framework."
A Meat and Livestock Commission spokeswoman described the prospect as "very worrying", with any extension of the list of SRMs likely to have cost and trade implications. Recent opinion has suggested the heads and spleens of all sheep may have to be destroyed. It is also clear that France is poised to resurrect its plan to demand the removal of spinal column from all lambs over six months.
The step-up in the EU testing programme follows the EU scientific steering committees call last October for an urgent survey into the incidence of TSEs in sheep and goats.
"Scrapie is the only TSE that is known to occur naturally in these species," said a commission spokesman. "But concern has existed for some years that BSE may have entered, at a low level, the sheep and goat population.
"There is no evidence that BSE is present in small ruminants under field conditions, but scientists do not exclude that sheep were fed with potentially infected meat and bone meal in the past and the risk that BSE is present in sheep cannot be excluded."
For the UK – the EUs biggest sheep producer – the new plan means that 60,000 healthy animals slaughtered for human consumption will have to be tested, plus 6000 dead-on-farm animals over the age of 18 months. The UK currently tests 3000 fallen animals and 20,000 sheep at abattoirs.
The commission is committed to funding testing in sheep and goats during 2002 to the tune of k2.9m (£1.77m). This figure will soon be increased by over k4m (£2.44m) to purchase extra test kits this year.
The tests will provide more information on the age profile of affected sheep, though they cannot yet differentiate between BSE and scrapie. *