British scientists have warned that lamb could pose a greater risk of spreading BSE to humans than beef, according to the BBC.
Research by experts at Imperial College, London, claims that as many as 150,000 Britons could die of Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease (vCJD) after eating infected meat if sheep as well as cattle are found to have the disease.
The risk of BSE in sheep remains theoretical, however, and the British Food Standards Agency (FSA) has not advised against the consumption of lamb. Professor Neil Ferguson, leader of the research team, told the BBC that if BSE has spread to sheep flocks, the risk of contamination is higher because the controls currently in place are focused so tightly on cattle. But the potential health risk could be reduced by as much as 90% if the right precautionary measures are put in place, he added.Sheep are known to suffer from a disease called scrapie, which affects their brains in much the same way as BSE in cattle, although there is no evidence so far to suggest that scrapie can be transmitted to humans.
However, scientists are concerned that symptoms of BSE in sheep could be confused with those of scrapie and mask the spread of the disease. Certain sheep tissue is already banned from human consumption across the EU as a precaution, but the Imperial College team is recommending that the same strict measures which apply to cattle now be extended to sheep as well, including restrictions on the age of sheep slaughtered for food and a ban on offal and spinal cord tissue entering the food chain.
The UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said a new sheep-screening programme was launched this month. The Imperial College research is published on the website of the scientific journal Nature.