NR AXKL
AU Comer,P.
TI Risk Assessment of BSE Controls
QU International Conference - Prion 2007 (26.-28.9.2007) Edinburgh International Conference Centre, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK - Book of Abstracts: Epidemiology, Risk Assessment and Transmission P04.126
IA http://www.prion2007.com/pdf/Prion Book of Abstracts.pdf
PT Konferenz-Poster
AB
As the risk from Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) decreases, decisions need to be made to review the controls that were put in place when the risk levels were much higher. Such decisions need to be based on sound science and supported by risk assessments. The number of BSE cases in the UK has reduced dramatically and there have been far fewer cases of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) than feared at the outset, however there are still many areas of scientific uncertainty.
A study has been carried out for the UK Food Standards Agency to assess the risk impact of possible changes to the way in which Specified Risk Material (SRM) controls are supervised and enforced in abattoirs. SRM controls were first introduced in the UK in 1989 and in the rest of Europe in 2000. These controls are designed to remove from the food supply those tissues which are known to harbour infectivity in an animal with BSE. A model has been developed which can be used to assess the implications of alternative inspection strategies on exposure to BSE infectivity. Input data for the model includes both expert judgements (e.g., Likelihood that animal identification is not correctly checked) and scientific data (e.g., amount of infectivity in infected tissues). The model is evaluated using a probabilistic risk assessment approach to account for uncertainties in the data.
The study results indicate that the amount of infectivity entering the food supply is extremely small, with the main contributors being the dorsal root ganglia and head meat (the latter being allowed back into the food supply in the UK following the harmonisation of SRM controls with the rest of Europe last year). The contribution from failures in SRM controls was found to be insignificant. The study has shown that it would be possible to make changes to the enforcement of SRM controls in abattoirs handling under thirty month old cattle without a significant increase in the exposure of the population to BSE infectivity.
AD P. Comer, DNV, UK
SP englisch
PO Schottland