Lamb BSE fears heightened

The FSA says people should not stop eating lamb

People who ate lamb in the early 1990s may have been exposed to BSE, say UK Government officials.

At that time, sheep were given the feeds blamed for introducing the disease into cattle.

BSE-infected meat is widely believed to the source of the lethal vCJD illness in humans, and scientists have yet to rule out its presence in sheep.

We are keeping consumers fully in the picture regarding the risk of BSE and sheep; they have a right to be kept informed, not kept in the dark

Suzi Leather,
FSA

A statement from the Food Standards Agency (FSA) said the preliminary results of tests "could be compatible" with BSE having been in sheep at the time.

It said highlighting the unfinished research was "timely", because of plans to promote eating lamb, although it said that people should not shun the meat.

But there are some suggestions that the announcement is to prepare the public for the worst when the final results from tests on sheep samples are published in the autumn.

Suzi Leather, deputy chair of the FSA, said there was "theoretical risk", but added: "We are not saying people should stop eating lamb.

"But we are keeping consumers fully in the picture regarding the risk of BSE and sheep; they have a right to be kept informed, not kept in the dark. That's why the FSA was set up."

Further research

Previous tests have shown that sheep can be infected with BSE by feeding or injecting them with BSE-infected cows brains.

Cows are known to have been infected through contaminated feed

Tests are being carried out on the brains of 156 sheep killed in the early 1990s that were affected by scrapie.

So far, none had shown any signs of BSE, but it was difficult to distinguish BSE "unequivocally" from the many sources of scrapie, the FSA said.

And if BSE was found, scientists have to rule out the possibility that the sheep samples were simply contaminated when they were collected.

Tests are also being carried out on mice.

Fatal diseases

Scrapie and BSE, along with the human form of the condition Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease, are called "spongiform encephalopathies", because they all reduce the brain to the same spongy appearance. They are untreatable and fatal.

Contaminated feed was banned in 1996. And the FSA says, because sheep do not live as long as cows, any sheep which had eaten contaminated feed would already have died.

There are now measures in place that mean the risk of eating infected meat is extremely slight.

Kevin Pearce of the National Farmers' Union told the BBC: "The timing perhaps isn't the best with the current state of the industry.

"But this is not new. This is talking about research of animals going back to the early 90s, and certainly we have never seen any evidence of BSE in commercial flocks anywhere in the country."