This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Contingency plan for BSE in sheep
02/06/2004
The Scottish Executive and the other UK administrations today published - for consultation - a revised contingency plan for action that could be taken if BSE was to be discovered in sheep.
All European Member States are required by the EU Commission to have such plans in place.
Rural Development Minister Ross Finnie said:
"Naturally occurring BSE has never been detected in sheep, but it is essential that we do everything we can to reduce the risk posed to human and animal health and the Scottish sheep industry from the theoretical risk of BSE in sheep.
"It is vital that we continually update our contincency plans. This revised plan takes full account of current scientific research and the advice and recommendations from the Governments scientific advisors SEAC, the Foods Standards Agency and the European Commission.
"We are working closely with the Scottish sheep industry to take work forward and good progress has been made under the National Scrapie Plan (NSP). The genotyping work already carried out under the NSP supports the steps we are taking to reduce the risk of BSE ever occurring naturally in our national flock."
EU Regulation 999/2001 requires Member States to draw up contingency plans for BSE in sheep. This plan is consistent with both SEAC advice and EU guidelines, which recommend measures based on genotype and age limits.
A first draft contingency plan was published in 2001. This revised version reflects developments in the National Scrapie Plan for GB and the Northern Ireland Scrapie Plan and the current advice from the Foods Standards Agency, SEAC and the European Commission.
Research indicates that the behaviour of scrapie in goats is similar to that in sheep. Any action in response to BSE in sheep would, therefore, be extended to goats. However, genotyping would not be an option for goats as no genotypes have been found which make goats naturally resistant to scrapie.
Scrapie is part of the family of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (which includes BSE) and is a fatal neurological disease of sheep. It has been present in the national flock for over 250 years, but is not considered to be transmissible to humans. There is a theoretical risk that BSE is present in sheep in the UK, masked as scrapie, although it has not been found occurring naturally. The National Scrapie Plan addresses the theoretical possibility of BSE being present in sheep.
The National Scrapie Plan (NSP) is a long term voluntary initiative to eradicate scrapie from the national flock through a programme of selective breeding under which sheep which are genetically susceptible to scrapie are removed over time and replaced by sheep with greater levels of resistance. The NSP implements a recommendation from the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee's report on Research and Surveillance for TSEs in sheep for a long term control and eradication programme for scrapie. Its primary aims are to protect animal health by reducing and eventually eradicating scrapie and to protect public health from the theoretical risk of BSE by increasing levels of genetic resistance to TSEs.
Further detail on the National Scrapie Plan can be found at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/about/ERADRA/LAH/00015760/page1067100192.aspx
Parallel consultations are being conducted in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.