BSE still possible in sheep and goats, EU scientists warn

To date there is no evidence that BSE is present in sheep and goats under field conditions but BSE cannot be excluded, scientists from the European Commission confirm this week. The European Scientific Steering Committee(SSC), advising the European Commission on Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathies (BSE) and other multi-disciplinary consumer health issues this week published an opinion about the safety of sheep and goat products if BSE were to be confirmed or become probable in these small ruminants. The SSC had been asked to address these questions in view of a possible confirmation of the presence of BSE in sheep brains in ongoing experiments in the UK as announced by the UK Food Standards Agency in August this year. The UK government department responsible for the experiments however informed on October 18th that the brain materials from the early 1990's that were used in the tests were unsuitable for the purpose. The SSC is calling for more research in a number of specific fields to fill in current gaps in scientific knowledge, and to confirm that their previous opinions dealing with the risk of Transmissable Spongiform Encephalopathy (TSE) in small ruminants remain valid. The SSC stressed that its previous opinions on specified risk materials that need to be taken out of the food chain will require updating if BSE were to become probable in sheep and goats. The Committee however reaffirmed its view that sheep and goat milk and milk products do not present a possible risk, provided milk of suspect animals is excluded from the food chain.