Researchers at a German University are claiming a breakthrough that could see the first practical test for detecting BSE in live animals becoming commercially available within the next two years.

In an interview with German TV earlier this week, Professor Bertram Brenig, the Director of the Institute of Veterinary Medicine with the Georg August University in Goettingen said his team had been developing the blood serum-based test for the past year.  Working in collaboration with a US-based biomedical company, Chronix Biomedical, the team had established a direct link between the incidence of BSE and an abnormality of nuclein acids present in the animal’s blood serum, the professor said, paving the way to the testing of individual animals.

Currently, BSE is only detectable in its final stages when the animal shows obvious physical symptoms, while confirmation can only be made through a post-mortem examination of the brain.

For this reason, it is currently normal practice to slaughter the whole herd as a preventative measure when the disease is detected – a measure that would be obviated by the new test.  Further tests are to be carried out over the next six months on several hundred sick and healthy cattle, the Professor said.