July 21, 2004

 

 

UK Government Acts To Eradicate Sheep Disease
 

Compulsory measures to eradicate the sheep disease scrapie from affected flocks came into force in the UK yesterday.

 

Confirmation of the latest move by the UK government and devolved administrations to eradicate a disease that has been known for almost three centuries came from Ross Finnie, Scotland's minister for environment and rural affairs.

 

He said: "The Executive is determined to work with farmers to eradicate scrapie. That was why we started a voluntary scheme offering replacement of, and compensation for, susceptible animals in March this year."

 

The impetus driving eradication and the new compulsory scheme is the fear that scrapie, a fatal neurological disease of sheep and goats never known to infect humans, could be masking BSE, a similar transmissible spongiform encephalopathy, in sheep.

 

BSE in cattle has been linked with the fatal human brain condition variant CJD which is now known to have affected about 140 people.

 

Research trying to establish whether there is BSE in sheep has been bedeviled by mistakes and confusion. But it has been suggested that, if it is found, most of the UK flock would have to be slaughtered.

 

There have also been several suggestions by researchers that only about 1 per cent of scrapie cases are reported.

 

Under the compulsory powers introduced yesterday, farmers with confirmed scrapie cases will have their flocks tested so that more susceptible animals can be identified and removed, or the whole flock will be slaughtered and disposed of.

 

All goats on affected holdings will be slaughtered and disposed of. Help will be given to farmers to replace slaughtered stock with animals more resistant to scrapie.

 

The National Beef Association claimed yesterday that continued resistance by the Department of Health to Food Standards Agency advice means there will be no announcement at least until October on ending the over-30 months ban on beef cattle for human consumption.

 

The ban has been in place for more than eight years as part of stringent precautions to prevent BSE infecting humans, but in several recent reports, the Food Standards Agency has said that the risk is now tiny, possibly one extra death in 60 years.

 

It was also reported yesterday that the number of BSE cases in UK cattle was down 37 per cent last year to 374.

 

However, even one extra case of vCJD could be too much for public perception and the Department of Health is refusing to authorise the end of the ban on cattle over 30 months old for human food.

 

The hope for the beef industry, said Robert Forster, chief executive of the NBA, could be pressure from the Chancellor to end a scheme that costs the Treasury about £360 million a year "to incinerate perfectly good beef".