TAFS NEWS
NEW MEMBER
  • As per June 1st, 2007, we warmly welcome Mr. Makoto Hirano of Zensho Co, Ltd, Tokyo, as a new member to TAFS.
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TECHNICAL NEWS
  • EFSA opinion on the BSE related public health risks of certain animal proteins in animal feed

    It is widely accepted that BSE was most likely spread in cattle because they were given feed that contained BSE-contaminated animal proteins. With limited exceptions, the practice of feeding animal protein to cattle or any other farmed livestock used for food has been banned since 2001. At the request of the European Parliament, EFSA has issued an opinion on the BSE related public health risks of certain animal proteins in animal feed, which will help inform any future consideration of amendments to the existing feed ban.

    [Source: Efsa newsletter; posted here: November 19, 2007]
  • New Animal Health Strategy for the European Union (2007 - 2013)
    "Prevention is better than cure"

    The European Commission adopted today [September 19] a Communication setting out the EU's animal health strategy for 2007-2013. The Communication provides the framework for animal health measures over the next 6 years, taking into account extensive feedback from stakeholders and potential challenges in the future. The aim is to put greater focus on precautionary measures, disease surveillance, controls and research, in order to reduce the incidence of animal disease and minimise the impact of outbreaks when they occur. The Communication also stresses that all those with an interest in animal health with have clear responsibilities in ensuring that the goals of the new strategy are met, so that the EU's animal health policy is as robust, efficient and effective as possible in the years ahead. It also highlights the need for an integrated approach in animal health policy-making, inter-linking it with other Community policies.
    [Source: European Commission, Agriculture News Digest]
Funding for Food Safety, Animal Health and Plant Health 2007-13
(in current prices, Mio €)

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Eradication and Surveillance programmes 245 308 308 308 308 308 308
Veterinary Emergency Fund 48 48 48 48 48 48 48
Other veterinary measures 10 10 10 10 10 10 10
Food and Feed Safety 35 35 45 55 65 75 84
Total 338 401 411 421 431 441 450

[Source: Questions and Answers on the Community Animal Health Policy 2007-2013]

[Posted here: October 2, 2007]

  • New Publication:
    Cellular prion protein regulates ß-secretase cleavage
    of the Alzheimer’s amyloid precursor protein

    By Parkin et al., PNAS, vol. 104, no. 26, pages 11062 - 11067
    http://www.pnas.org/cgi/reprint/0609621104v1

This paper hints towards a possible physiological role of prion protein. Parkin and colleagues show a negative correlation between the amount of cellular prion protein and the secretion of amyloid beta peptide, which is involved in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease.

[Posted here Aug 3, 2007]
  • New Publication:
    Hot spots in prion protein for pathogenic conversion

    By Kuwata et al., PNAS, vol. 104, no. 29, pages 11921 - 11926.
    http://www.pnas.org/cgi/reprint/0702671104v1.pdf

    Kuwata and colleagues have discovered a chemical chaperone called GN8 that can stabilize the PrPC conformation of the prion protein and prevent it from misfolding into the form that causes vCJD. The compound may have therapeutic potential as it was shown to prolong the survival of TSE-infected mice.

    [Posted here Aug 3, 2007]
  • New Publication:
    Classic Scrapie in Sheep with the ARR/ARR Prion Genotype in Germany and France

    By Groschup et al., Emerg Infect Dis. 2007 Aug.
    http://www.cdc.gov/eid/content/13/8/pdfs/07-0077.pdf

    Abstract:
    In the past, natural scrapie and bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) infections have essentially not been diagnosed in sheep homozygous for the A136R154R171 haplotype of the prion protein. This genotype was therefore assumed to confer resistance to BSE and classic scrapie under natural exposure conditions. Hence, to exclude prions from the human food chain, massive breeding efforts have been undertaken in the European Union to amplify this gene. We report the identification of 2 natural scrapie cases in ARR/ARR sheep that have biochemical and transmission characteristics similar to cases of classic scrapie, although the abnormally folded prion protein (PrPSc) was
    associated with a lower proteinase-K resistance. PrPSc was clearly distinct from BSE prions passaged in sheep and from atypical scrapie prions. These findings strongly support the idea that scrapie prions are a mosaic of agents, which harbor different biologic properties, rather than a unique entity.

    [Posted here July 12, 2007]
  • New Publication:
    Source of Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease outside United Kingdom

    By Sanchez-Juan et al., Emerg Infect Dis. 2007 Aug
    http://www.cdc.gov/eid/content/13/8/pdfs/07-0178.pdf

    This new paper seems to confirm the GBR and also highlights the need for a global approach to BSE.

    Abstract:
    We studied the occurrence of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) outside the United Kingdom in relation to the incidence of indigenous bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and to the level of live bovines and bovine products imported from the UK during the 1980s and the first half of the 1990s. Our study provides evidence that a country’s number of vCJD cases correlates with the number of live bovines it imported from the UK from 1980 to 1990 (Spearman rank correlation coeffi cient [rs] 0.73, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.42–0.89, p<0.001). Similar correlations were observed with the number of indigenous BSE cases (rs 0.70, 95% CI 0.37–0.87, p = 0.001) and carcass meat imported from the UK from 1980 to 1996 (rs 0.75, 95% CI 0.45–0.89; p<0.001) Bovine imports from the UK may have been an important source of human exposure to BSE and may have contributed to the global risk for disease.

    [Posted here July 10, 2007]
  • New Publication:
     Susceptibility of Cattle to First-passage Intracerebral Inoculation with Chronic Wasting Disease Agent from White-tailed Deer

    By Hamir et al., Vet Pathol 44:487-493 (2007)
    http://www.vetpathology.org/cgi/content/abstract/44/4/487

    Fourteen, 3-month-old calves were intracerebrally inoculated with the agent of chronic wasting disease (CWD) from white-tailed deer (CWDwtd) to compare the clinical signs and neuropathologic findings with those of certain other transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE, prion diseases) that have been shown to be experimentally transmissible to cattle (sheep scrapie, CWD of mule deer [CWDmd], bovine spongiform encephalopathy [BSE], and transmissible mink encephalopathy). Two uninoculated calves served as controls. Within 26 months postinoculation (MPI), 12 inoculated calves had lost considerable weight and eventually became recumbent. Of the 12 inoculated calves, 11 (92%) developed clinical signs. Although spongiform encephalopathy (SE) was not observed, abnormal prion protein (PrPd) was detected by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and Western blot (WB) in central nervous system tissues. The absence of SE with presence of PrPd has also been observed when other TSE agents (scrapie and CWDmd) were similarly inoculated into cattle. The IHC and WB findings suggest that the diagnostic techniques currently used to confirm BSE would detect CWDwtd in cattle, should it occur naturally. Also, the absence of SE and a distinctive IHC pattern of CWDwtd and CWDmd in cattle suggests that it should be possible to distinguish these conditions from other TSEs that have been experimentally transmitted to cattle.

    [Posted here July 9, 2007]
  • New Publication:
    Oral Transmissibility of Prion Disease Is Enhanced by Binding to Soil Particles
By Johnson et al., PLoS Pathog 3(7): e93 doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.0030093

Excerpt from author summary:
Soil has been hypothesized to act as a reservoir of infectivity and to bind the infectious agent. In the current study, we orally dosed experimental animals with a common clay mineral, montmorillonite, or whole soils laden with infectious prions, and compared the transmissibility to unbound agent. We found that prions bound to montmorillonite and whole soils remained orally infectious, and, in most cases, increased the oral transmission of disease compared to the unbound agent. The results presented in this study suggest that soil may contribute to environmental spread of TSEs by increasing the transmissibility of small amounts of infectious agent in the environment.

[Source: PloS Pathogens; posted here July 9, 2007]
  • TSEs: Commission adopts more proportionate requirements

The European Commission has today adopted a Regulation amending the EU provisions for transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) in sheep and goats. The new legislation makes the TSE monitoring and eradication requirements more flexible and balanced, while ensuring that the current very high level of consumer protection is maintained. Very intensive TSE monitoring in sheep and goats has been carried out since 2005, yet no incidence of BSE has been detected in these animals in that time. Moreover, in its Opinion of March 2007, the European Food Safety Authority found no evidence of any link between scrapie (the most common TSE in small ruminants) and any human disease. Therefore, the stringent EU measures in place for TSE monitoring and eradication in sheep and goats are no longer viewed as proportionate. For that reason, the Commission has reviewed the measures, making them more targeted, more risk-based and less burdensome on farmers and livestock operators. The highly intensive TSE testing in sheep and goats will be adjusted, and the number of tests which will have to be carried out on these animals will return to around the pre-2005 level. In addition, the rules on culling whole herds upon detection of a TSE case have been adjusted, to reduce unnecessary mass slaughters which can have severe social and economic consequences. Much clearer provisions for measures to be taken when an unusual or atypical type of TSE is found in sheep or goats are also laid out in the legislation adopted today. The Regulation was endorsed by Member States in the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health in April, and will enter into effect on 1 July 2007.

[Source: EC - Agriculture News Digest 26/06/2007; posted here July 6, 2007]

  • New SEAC Position Statement on Dentistry and vCJD

The Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee (SEAC) has published a new Position Statement. Preliminary research findings suggest that the potential risk of transmission of vCJD via dental procedures may be greater than previously anticipated.
[Posted June 13, 2007]

  • New OIE categorisation of country BSE risks
The International Committe of the OIE has adopted a resolution reckognizing the following new BSE risk statuses:
Negligible BSE risk: Australia, Argentina, New Zealand, Singapore, Uruguay.
Controlled BSE risk: Brazil, Canada, Chile, Switzerland, Taipei China, USA.
Official OIE Resolution.
Statement by the Canadian Minister of Agriculture.
Statement by U.S. Secretary of Agricultre.
Comment: Swiss BSE Controls rewarded with lower risk status.
[Posted May 25, 2007; amended May 31, 2007]
  • New Publication:
    Scrapie Agent (Strain 263K) Can Transmit Disease via the Oral Route after Persistence in Soil over Years

    By Seidel et al., PLoS ONE 2(5): e435. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0000435
    Complete article.

    [Source: PLoS ONE; posted here May 21, 2007]
  • EFSA opinion on the likelihood of BSE infectivity in specified risk material
    11 May 2007

EFSA has today published an opinion on the likelihood of BSE infectivity in specified risk materials (SRM) from cattle at different age groups. SRMs are the tissues in cattle containing the highest risk of BSE infectivity. These are removed as a key element of the EU BSE controls. EFSA was asked by the European Commission to follow-up on one of its recommendations from its previous opinion (EFSA, 2005) on SRM removal by further estimating the likelihood of the infectivity in SRMs derived from BSE-infected cattle.

EFSA press release.
EFSA opinion.
[Source: EFSA Highlights newsletter; posted here May 18, 2007]