# 26th June 2003 - The 78th SEAC meeting (BSE/CJD/TSE)



## terry (Sep 13, 2002)

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: 26th June 2003 - The 78th SEAC meeting took place on the 24th June
Date: Sun, 29 Jun 2003 09:30:36 -0500
From: "Terry S. Singeltary Sr." <[email protected]>
Reply-To: Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]


######## Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy <[email protected]> #########

26th June 2003 - The 78th SEAC meeting took place on the 24th June, a
summary <http://www.seac.gov.uk/summaries/summ_0603.htm> of that meeting
is available. At this meeting the minutes from the 77th meeting in
February were approved and are now available in the previous meetings
<http://www.seac.gov.uk/papers/papers.htm> section of this website.
Additionally available is an updated document (PDF) listing the
commercial and non-commercial interests
<http://www.seac.gov.uk/committee/interest.pdf>of the SEAC members...


S ummary of the 78th SEAC meeting on 24th June 2003

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The Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee (SEAC) held its 78th
meeting in London on 24 June 2003, when it discussed the following matters:


Risk Assessment on Ox Tongue and Associate Tonsil Tissue

At an earlier meeting SEAC considered a new finding of BSE infectivity
in ox tongue. SEAC recommended that a risk assessment be conducted and
this was commissioned by the Food Standards Agency, and presented at the
June 2003 meeting. The risk assessment considered the possible range of
human exposure to BSE infectivity from the consumption of ox tongue. The
Committee concluded that it was not possible to advise the FSA precisely
on the magnitude of the risk due to the substantial scientific
uncertainty inherent in the risk assessment. However, the Committee
agreed that the scientific evidence indicated that the potential risk of
infectivity from eating tongue was likely to be very small. The
Committee identified further scientific work that would help to refine
the risk estimates.


Review of the use of MMBM in fertiliser

The Department of the environment, food and rural affairs (Defra) asked
SEAC to provide scientific advice on the animal health implications of
proposed changes to UK fertiliser controls. SEAC agreed that the
proposed use of ash from the incineration of meat and bone meal (MBM)
derived from category 2 and category 3 material without restriction on
land would not result in significant additional risk to animal health.
SEAC confirmed its earlier advice that mammalian MBM should not be
permitted in fertilisers likely to be spread on agricultural land or
land where animals may graze.


VLA Survey  Scrapie Surveillance in Sheep

The Committee noted the preliminary results of a report from the
Veterinary Laboratories Agency estimating the prevalence of scrapie in
the national flock. The Committee also noted that a full report would be
available in due course, containing all of the data from the study.


vCJD Update

The National CJD surveillance unit reported that 136 vCJD cases have
been confirmed in the UK with 4 cases still alive. All vCJD cases tested
to date are of the same genotype (Methionine homozygous at codon 129 of
the PrP gene). All vCJD cases so far identified in 2003 have reported
the onset of clinical signs in 2002. Therefore the total number of
onsets in 2002 cannot yet be confirmed.


Report from the SEAC Epidemiology sub-group

The Chairman of this specialist sub-group reported to SEAC that there
continues to be statistical evidence that the vCJD epidemic is no longer
increasing at the rate seen previously and that the underlying incidence
may have reached or be reaching a peak. However the possibility of
susceptible genotypes other than methionine homozygotes and the
theoretical possibility of other clinical manifestations of infection
with the BSE agent other than vCJD means that prediction of the
evolution of the epidemic is uncertain and continued surveillance is
essential.


Expert Group on Strain Differentiation

SEAC received a report from the Chairman of an expert group of the EU
Community TSE Reference Laboratory Committee, which met on 23 June 2003
to review progress on a trial to evaluate rapid TSE tests.


Quinquennial Review of SEAC

The Committee welcomed the recommendations outlined in the SEAC
Quinquennial Review Report published in March 2003...

PLEASE SEE FULL TEXT HERE;

http://www.vegsource.com/talk/madcow/messages/680.html

(special interest see below url)

http://www.vegsource.com/talk/madcow/messages/681.html


tss


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