First case of BSE in goat?
A French research team may have discovered the first case of BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) in a goat and the expert panel at the Community Reference Laboratory in
If confirmed, this would be the first time BSE has been transmitted to another species. Sheep and goats are known to contract transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) which takes the form of scrapie. However, the French infected goat seems to have an infection that cannot be distinguished from BSE.
The TSE was detected as part of an EU surveillance scheme designed to detect suspicious TSE strains in small ruminants. This particular goat appeared healthy when slaughtered in 2002 and was randomly tested for TSEs. A mouse injected with tissue from the goat’s brain went on to develop BSE during the two-year laboratory testing period needed for the disease to manifest.
The European Commission wants the discovery endorsed but has downplayed the chance of further infection. Even if BSE is found it does not present a risk to public health as neither the goat nor its herd entered the food chain.
Following a BSE scare in the 1990s the EU banned the use of animal parts in feed and removed high risk material such as spinal cord, intestines and brain form the food and feed chain. Over 100 people have died so far from the disease, mainly in
