UK’s first possible BSE goat case surfaces - leatherbiz: Leading news Leatherbiz

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UK’s first possible BSE goat case surfaces

15/02/2005

UK experts claim there is no cause for public alarm over a report that a Scottish goat may have died from BSE. The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has also said it is not advising people against eating goat meat or products, including milk and cheese, quoting recent advice on dairy products from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) that milk and milk products from goats are unlikely to present any risk of contamination.


The Scottish animal died in 1990 of what was determined to be scrapie. New tests, however, revealed traits similar to those from goats experimentally infected with BSE. If confirmed through follow-up tests, the Scottish case would be the second goat to have tested positive for BSE, out of the 140,000 goats tested across Europe since 2002.


The Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) had been investigating methods of distinguishing between scrapie and BSE when it encountered the case. Researchers say it is likely that both the Scottish and French goat were exposed to contaminated feed.

 

The European Commission has also urged for increased surveillance on goats across Europe to establish the current incidence in the goat population.

 



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