TAFS News

TAFS involved in GRF One Health Summit 2012

2011-10-05T11:54:00.000Z

In February 2012 the Global Risk Forum GRF Davos holds an international health conference in Davos, Switzerland. The first GRF One Health Summit 2012 will contribute to advancing the concept of “One Health”, striving for intensive collaboration among all stakeholders related to public health. Such an approach acknowledges the systemic interconnections of human, animal and environmental health in close relation with food safety and security and will ensure sustainable public health in an era of climate change, resource depletion, land degradation, hunger and socio-economic development challenges.

The call for contributions for the GRF One Health Summit 2012 is now open. You are invited to submit an abstract for an oral or poster presentation relating to the topics of the conference. Representatives from the medical sciences, natural and social sciences, the health workforce as well as the pharma-, food- and insurance-industry are particularly addressed to register.

For further information please visit http://onehealth.grforum.org

The TAFS forum is involved in the planning and organization of the conference. We are currently working out what exactly our role will be.

Two new members

2011-04-06T15:51:00.000+01:00

They arrived as guests at our latest meeting and left as new members: TAFS warmly welcomes Caspar von der Crone from the European Egg, Poultry and Game Association (EPEGA) and Dr. Hugo Seemer from Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica GmbH. We look forward to working with you towards healthier animals and safer food.

Transmission of prions through aerosols

2011-01-17T08:17:00.000Z

TAFS member A. Aguzzi reports in a recent paper about very efficient transmission of prions by aerosols. This important study adds airborne-transmission to the previous list of (natural or experimental) transmission pathways: food, blood, milk, saliva, feces and urine.

Laboratories that work with TSEs may need to update their biosafety guidelines accordingly and improve protection against inhalation of aerosols.

Other than that this study bears no consequences for day-to-day life. Coughing animals or patients do not exhale prions. Further evidence against high risk in everyday working life comes from the fact that none of the vCJD victims had worked in a slaughterhouse where he might have been exposed to prion-contaminated dust.

http://www.plospathogens.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.ppat.1001257

Summary and simplified version of position paper on feed ban relaxation

2010-12-14T10:26:00.000Z

In addition to the recently published full position paper on a potential relaxation of the feed ban, TAFS has posted today a shortened and simplified version for those who only want to know about the key arguments and take home message. As the full version, the short one is available at http://www.tafsforum.org/tse.html.

New TAFS Position Paper on Relaxation of Feed Ban

2010-11-05T14:03:00.001Z

TAFS has published a new position paper, discussing the pros and cons of a potential relaxation of the feed ban that was introduced in the EU and elsewhere to break the BSE infection cycle. The paper lists key requirements that would need to be met before the feed ban for non-ruminants could be relaxed. As these requirements are currently not met TAFS concludes that maintenance of the ban is the only means to drive the level of risk towards zero.
The paper can be downloaded from the TAFS website at http://www.tafsforum.org/tse.html.

TAFS in European Financial Times on October 14

2010-10-12T15:11:00.001Z

On October 14, the European Financial Times will come with an insert, a 'briefing' of 96 pages on food security. TAFS and its activities are presented on page 42-43. The briefing will also be available at www.feedingthefuture.eu.

TAFS at Food Safety Conference in Shanghai November

2010-09-16T09:20:00.000Z

TAFS will participate in the China International Food Safety & Quality Conference + Expo in Shanghai, November 10-11, 2010. See http://www.chinafoodsafety.com/conference_e.htm for further details. On November 11, we will present our platform in a breakout session (session L, starting at 1:30 pm) under the title "The TAFS Forum - A Platform for Collaboration Across Borders and Sectors". Come and meet us there.

US committee reports on ruminants as key source of MAP in food

2010-07-16T09:18:00.005+01:00

The US National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods has published its review 'Assessment of Food as a Source of Exposure to Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP)'. Key conclusions of the report are:

Current methods for detection of MAP have significant limitations.
A standard method for the detection of viable MAP cells needs to be developed and adopted by researchers in order to accurately determine the presence and numbers of MAP in foods and other potential sources of exposure.
Aside from MAP-infected domestic ruminant animals, the organism is found infrequently. This may be a function of low prevalence and/or a consequence of the absence of reliable detection methods.
If MAP in cattle is controlled, the source of MAP in other animals, food, and water may largely be eliminated.
Milk, particularly raw milk, may be a likely food source for human exposure to MAP.
Thermal processes that deliver a 4- to 7-log reduction in the number of MAP cells should be adequate to inactivate the numbers of MAP estimated to be present in raw milk.
A small percentage (< 3%) of commercially pasteurized
milk may contain small numbers of viable MAP cells.
Although the data are limited, cheese made from pasteurized milk is probably not a significant source of exposure to MAP, but the potential for exposure to MAP from milk products made from raw milk is unknown.
Given the prevalence of MAP in U.S. cattle herds, ground beef may be a potential source of MAP.
MAP survives in cattle feces, water, and soil and is found in many wild animals; therefore, farm runoff may potentially contaminate irrigation water, which can come in contact with fruits and vegetables and result in human exposure.
Although there is no information to indicate that municipal drinking water is a source of human exposure to MAP, further study is needed.
Although humans may be exposed to MAP through a variety of routes, including food and the environment, determination of the frequency and amount of exposure will require additional research.

The Committee was not being asked to consider the question of whether or not MAP is a human pathogen.

Source: Journal of Food Protection, Vol. 73, No. 7, 2010, Pages 1357 - 1397

India and Peru have 'negligible' BSE risk

2010-06-03T08:59:00.003+01:00

At its 78th General Session, the World Organisation for Animal Health OIE has newly recognised India and Peru as having a 'negligible' BSE risk.

The Republic of Korea and Panama were added to the list of countries with 'controlled' BSE risk.

The complete lists of countries with OIE-recognised BSE status are available at http://www.oie.int/eng/Status/BSE/en_BSE_free.htm (not yet including this years additions).

Source: OIE

J. Matern chairs Global Food Safety Initiative

2010-02-19T08:13:00.002Z

The Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI), managed by The Consumer Goods Forum, announced the appointment of Jürgen Matern, Vice President, Strategic Quality Management at Metro AG and member of TAFS. TAFS congratulates Jürgen Matern to this honourable achievement and looks forward to a fruitful collaboration with GFSI.

Paper on Swine Influenza and 2009 Pandemic Influenza

2010-02-10T15:04:00.002Z

TAFS has broadened its scope: besides TSEs and Paratuberculosis, Influenza has been taken up as our third topic. An informational paper on this topic is published on TAFS' website.

TAFS presents knowledge about Paratuberculosis in novel format

2010-02-10T12:49:00.002Z

Knowledge dissemination about transmissible animal diseases and food safety is a key mandate of TAFS. So far, we have done this through public conferences and position papers on our website. Now, TAFS has taken a novel approach and makes the knowledge captured in previous documents available through 'Grasp-It®', a tool that sorts statements into three categories (facts, opinions, assumptions) and makes the semantic relationships betweem them transparent (e.g., opinion x is based on fact y and assumption z).

Go to www.grasp-it.ch to learn more about the approach or start the tool here.

Note that all users can suggest amendments and changes to the statements made about Paratuberculosis which TAFS will regularly review and consider for implementation.

New member to strengthen consumer perspective at TAFS

2010-01-04T09:17:00.002Z

As per January 1st, 2010, TAFS welcomes Professor Dr. Klaus G. Grunert of the Aarhus School of Business, Denmark, as its latest member.

Prof. Grunert is director of the MAPP Centre for Research on Customer Relations in the Food Sector.

Welcome!

Possible Transmission of BSE and Scrapie to Fish

2009-07-30T10:29:00.005+01:00

A new paper* is addressing the transmissibility of BSE and Scrapie to fish.

TAFS comments on the paper:
The authors describe an experimental challenge of fish (Gilthead Sea bream), and acknowledge that they still have to prove that the fish were actually infectious. The paper is mainly descriptive pathology, but appears to be worthy of consideration. Confirmation that the deposits identified in the brains of challenged fish is infectious is however important.

The fish were exposed orally (force-fed), to a total of approx 50mg of BSE-infected (or scrapie infected) brain tissue, divided into five doses, administered at two weekly intervals. While the outcome may demonstrate a theoretical risk of infection in fish, future risk assessments will need to take into account many more factors. While in the UK there was no evidence of susceptibility of fish in 1996, when the feeding of mammalian meat and bone meal (MBM) to fish was first prohibited. The key reason for the prohibition was to prevent the circulation of mammalian MBM, with risk of accidental contamination of ruminant feed. It was not because the fish were thought to have been at risk.

Since then of course fish meal has also been prohibited from ruminant feed (except for limited exclusions) in the EU, but again, this was primarily because it was not possible to exclude the possibility that the fishmeal was contaminated with mammalian MBM. Discriminatory tests are still not sufficiently robust to ensure that contamination does not occur.

Future risk assessments will however need to take this result into account, especially if the fish are shown to be truly infected. It does mean that fish waste that is converted into fish meal could theoretically end up infecting ruminants if recycled. Having said that, it is important to remember that:-
a) the prevalence of BSE in cattle, and protective measures in force, are going to be key factors in determining whether or not there is a real risk of infecting farmed fish, if they are fed on ruminant MBM. In countries where controls are in place, with SRM removed and destroyed, it is most unlikely that fish will be exposed to sufficient infectivity to result in infection. Methods of meal production may also reduce the likelihood of high infectious doses in the meal. In countries where BSE controls, such as SRM removal, are not in place, the likelihood of infectivity being present will be dependent on BSE prevalence. OIE country categorisation gives an indication of this risk, but at present no countries are currently identified as representing a high risk.
b) in most countries where fishmeal is fed to livestock, it largely arises from fish caught at sea, which will not have been fed on ruminant MBM. It is possible however that the development of fish farming to meet long term nutrition needs of consumers could present a danger to cattle if their waste was recycled in large volumes to cattle (but only if they have been fed BSE in the first place). Perhaps more importantly would be the feeding of fish on fishmeal produced from infected farmed fish of the same species. Recycling within a species has the potential to adapt the agent to the species, with the result that they are more easily infected. The UK BSE epidemic was an example of recycling within a species which resulted in the exposure of increasing numbers of cattle with each phase of recycling. It has to be noted however that in many countries the conditions under which animal wastes are processed have changed, and may no longer represent the same potential for recycling that led to the BSE epidemic.
c) key to whether or not infected fish represent a risk to farm animals, fish or humans will be the biological properties of the agent, if it is demonstrated that the fish are actually infected. Will the agent behave like BSE or scrapie? While behaviour that is identical to bovine BSE may be assumed to represent a similar risk to animals or humans that consume infected tissues, any deviation from the BSE characteristics means that the risks cannot be quantified. There is currently no evidence that other prion diseases of animals represent a danger to humans (see TAFS statement on the transmission of scrapie via milk).

*Salta E, Panagiotidis C, Teliousis K, Petrakis S, Eleftheriadis E, et al. (2009) Evaluation of the Possible Transmission of BSE and Scrapie to Gilthead Sea
Bream (Sparus aurata). PLoS ONE 4(7): e6175. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0006175

Risk Management Paratuberculosis

2009-07-02T11:02:00.002+01:00

TAFS published its first position paper on a non-TSE animal disease today. It is a recommended risk management plan for paratuberculosis and available for download from the TAFS website.

Fish study holds hope for CJD drug

2009-04-03T11:47:00.002Z

We know that rogue prions cause CJD and mad cow disease, but what normally folded prion proteins do has been a mystery, because experimental mice without them are almost normal.

Now Edward Málaga-Trillo and colleagues at the University of Konstanz in Germany have discovered that depriving zebrafish of prions has a much more obvious effect. This holds out hope for future drug development (PLoS Biology, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1000055).

Zebrafish have two versions of the protein. Blocking one stops the brain forming correctly; blocking the other stops the cell migration that guides embryo growth. Time-lapse photos show that the prions help cells to signal and stick to each other.

The finding may explain why disrupting normal prion production causes the dementia of CJD. "In fish embryos we see the protein helping cells communicate," Málaga-Trillo told New Scientist. "It may do something analogous in the mammalian brain, such as building synapses. That may be what goes wrong in prion diseases."

The work also means zebrafish might be useful in drug development. Because disrupting prions has such dramatic effects in these embryos, a drug that protects the protein should be easy to identify.

Source: New Scientist, 2699, March 11, 2009

2 more position papers on TSE updated

2009-02-03T17:07:00.002Z

Two more updated versions of TAFS Position Papers on TSE have been posted today:
- Testing of cattle for BSE
- Slaughter practices and the dangers of carcase contamination with BSE.

The papers can be downloaded from the TAFS website.

3 position papers on TSE updated

2009-01-27T11:03:00.002Z

Three updated versions of TAFS Position Papers on TSE have been posted today:
- BSE in small ruminants
- Transmission of scrapie via milk
- Specified risk materials.

The papers can be downloaded from the TAFS website.

Metro Group represented in TAFS

2009-01-02T13:45:00.002Z

As per January 1st, 2009, TAFS welcomes Mr. Hans-Jürgen Matern of MGB Metro, Düsseldorf, Germany, as its latest member.

Mr. Matern is Division Manager Quality Assurance at MGB Metro.

Welcome!

New website of OIE reference laboratory for paratuberculosis

2008-11-07T09:29:00.004Z

If you are interested in paratuberculosis, you will either know already or find it good to know now that the Veterinary Research Institute, Brno, Czech Republic, opened new web pages of the OIE reference laboratory for paratuberculosis.

In particular the weekly updated list of publications on paratuberculosis/Johne's disease will be very useful for the community.

Source: Centaur news flash information

New form of 'mad cow' disease could infect humans

2008-09-16T06:53:00.004Z

13 September 2008
From New Scientist Print Edition.
Andy Coghlan

JUST when it looked as if we had mad cow disease licked, a new threat may be lurking down on the farm - bovine amyloidic spongiform encephalopathy. First discovered in Italian cows in 2003, BASE has infected a monkey, suggesting that the disease may also be capable of spreading to humans.

Alarmingly, the disease took hold - and killed - the monkey faster than strains of classical BSE and variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD), the human version of mad cow disease, injected into other monkeys as part of the same experiment. What's more, the symptoms and brain damage look very like a rare form of "sporadic" vCJD, called MM2, which has no known cause, raising the prospect that BASE may already infect people.

Emmanuel Comoy of the Institute of Emerging Diseases and Innovative Therapies in Fontenay-aux-Roses, France, and his colleagues made the discovery after injecting brain material from an Italian cow with BASE into the monkey's brain. After 26 months, it was dead (PLoS ONE, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0003017).

The monkey's symptoms were different from those of other monkeys injected with human vCJD or classical BSE, and from people and cows with these diseases, whose cerebellum and brain stem are damaged. Instead of becoming aggressive and losing their appetite and ability to move, both the cow and the monkey with BASE lost their memories and the ability to orientate. This fits with damage to the cortex. "It's as if they're lost," says Comoy. Significantly, humans with MM2 have similar symptoms and patterns of brain damage.

"We have here an atypical cattle strain of BSE that's clearly transmissible to primates, that's more easily transmissible than classical BSE, and which causes a different disease," says Comoy.
“We have a strain of BSE that's more easily transmissible than classical BSE and which causes a different disease”.

He is now trying to find out if MM2 and BASE are the same disease by injecting mice with material from people infected with MM2, BASE cows and the dead monkey. He is also exploring whether monkeys can catch BASE by eating infected brain from cows, just as people contracted vCJD by eating beef contaminated with brain material from BSE-infected cows. "We're four years into the eating trial, and the animals remain healthy, but we can't be complacent as monkeys take five years to succumb to infection with classical BSE," says Comoy.

"It's entirely possible that some diseases we think are spontaneous CJD are actually caused by BASE, but it's by no means proven," says Chris Higgins, chairman of the UK government's Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee.

Even if MM2 turns out be the human form of BASE, Higgins says, the "health implications are minimal", because the disease is so rare in cows and infective material remains banned from consumption. But Comoy says that the discovery should temper any temptation to ever relax screening for BSE.

New Efsa TSE risk assessment on young sheep and goat

2008-07-16T18:32:00.003+01:00

The European Food Safety Agency has published a new risk assessment from carcasses of ovine and caprine animals below 6 months of age from TSE infected flocks intended for human consumption, as well as a corresponding press release.

Source: Efsa web site.

A Novel Human Disease with Abnormal Prion Protein Sensitive to Protease

2008-07-10T08:03:00.002+01:00

Ten people die from new CJD-like disease
09 July 2008
From New Scientist Print Edition.
Andy Coghlan

A NEW form of fatal dementia has been discovered in 16 Americans, 10 of whom have already died of the condition. It resembles Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease - with patients gradually losing their ability to think, speak and move - but has features that make it distinct from known forms of CJD.

No one yet knows how the disease originates, or under what conditions it might spread. Nor is it clear how many people have the condition. "I believe the disease has been around for many years, unnoticed," says Pierluigi Gambetti, director of the US National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. Cases may previously have been mistaken for other forms of dementia.

Since Gambetti's team wrote a paper describing an initial 11 cases referred to his centre between 2002 and 2006 (Annals of Neurology, vol 63, p 697), another five have come to light. "So it is possible that it could be just the tip of the iceberg," Gambetti says.
As in other spongiform encephalopathies, such as CJD and mad cow disease (BSE), the brain tissue of victims is full of tiny holes. This damage is thought to be caused by the accumulation of prions, misfolded versions of a brain protein called PrP that can convert normal PrP molecules into their own misshapen form.

Some features of the new disease are different, however. All known disease-causing prions resist degradation by proteases - enzymes which digest the normal form of PrP. But prions from patients with the new disease are broken down by the enzymes.

Some very rare forms of CJD run in families and are caused by mutations in the gene for PrP. Six of the cases described in Gambetti's paper were from families with a history of dementia, suggesting a genetic cause. However, these people had no mutations in their PrP genes. "Maybe there are other genes that have an influence on the disease," suggests James Ironside of the UK's National CJD Surveillance Unit in Edinburgh.

Most forms of CJD develop spontaneously, for unknown reasons, but can be spread if someone is exposed to brain material from people with CJD, for instance, by neurosurgery using inadequately sterilised instruments.
One variant of CJD has been linked to the consumption of contaminated meat from cattle with mad cow disease. If the new condition is similarly caused by something in the victims' diet, or another environmental cause, new measures might be needed to protect public health.
Gambetti is now conducting experiments in mice to see how the disease is transmitted. He suspects that there is no cause for alarm. "I believe the disease occurs naturally, and is not due to environmental causes," he says.

From issue 2664 of New Scientist magazine, 09 July 2008, page 13

See also the original article and a corresponding editorial comment.

Even vegetarians may not be safe from 'mad cow' prions

2008-06-26T10:56:00.001+01:00

10:34 26 June 2008
NewScientist.com news service
Ewen Callaway

Fancy a dose of prions with your vegetables? A new study suggests that infectious prions - thought to be the causative agents in mad cow disease and human vCJD – can survive wastewater decontamination and wind up in fertiliser, potentially contaminating fruit and vegetables.
The prions would be present in such low quantities that they are unlikely to pose a health threat, but as a precaution, "we should prevent the entry of prions into wastewater treatment plants," says microbiologist Joel Pedersen, of the University of Wisconsin in Madison, US, who led the research.
Prions could end up in wastewater treatment plants via slaughterhouse drains, hunted game cleaned in a sink, or humans with vCJD shedding prions in their urine or faeces, Pedersen says.
Landfill risk
Previous studies have suggested that prions can survive heat treatment and caustic chemicals, but to see how prions fare during sewage treatment, Pendersen's team spiked sludge from a local treatment plant with infectious prions, and then subjected the toxic brew to a typical wastewater treatment regimen.
This typically involves three weeks of filtration, separation and incubation with microbes that break down contaminants in the sludge, resulting in clean water and "biosolids" free of most human pathogens, which can be used as a fertiliser.
When Pedersen's team tested the sewage soup at various stages, they found the water was clean, but the biosolids were contaminated with prions.
"The sludge digestion seems to have no effect on the prion protein," he says.
Prions from culled livestock could also lurk in landfills, says Pederson, whose team is testing whether prions survive in dumps. Recent mad cow disease scares in Britain, Canada, and the US resulted in culls of thousands of potentially tainted animals, and many ended up underground.
Journal reference: Environmental Science & Technology (DOI: 10.1021/es703186e)

Organic pigs breed more bad bugs

2008-06-26T10:48:00.002+01:00

24 June 2008
From New Scientist Print Edition.

Animals reared in natural, outdoor conditions without nasty modern drugs yield healthier meat, right? Not necessarily.
Wondwossen Gebreyes and colleagues at Ohio State University in Columbus tested US pigs for antibodies - telltale signs of infection - to pathogens that can also affect humans. They found traces of Salmonella in 39 per cent of pigs raised in standard indoor pens and routinely given antibiotics, but in 54 per cent of organic pigs raised outdoors without the drugs (Foodborne Pathogens and Disease, vol 5, p 199).
This poses a dilemma, says Gebreyes: giving pigs routine antibiotics favours antibiotic-resistant bacteria, but not giving them drugs means more animals carry Salmonella, which causes a million cases of food poisoning a year in the US alone.
They also found traces of the parasite Toxoplasma, carried by cats and other animals, in 1 per cent of conventional pigs but 7 per cent of free-range animals. The parasite can damage developing fetuses.
Worse, the US team found two organic pigs with signs of infection with Trichinella, a roundworm that can cause chronic disease and even kill when people eat undercooked pork. Trichinella is nearly eradicated in livestock in the the US and Europe, though it persists in wildlife. Finding it in two pigs of the 600 tested is 23 times its average frequency in US pigs.
"Does having an antibiotic-free and animal-friendly environment cause the re-emergence of historically significant pathogens?" Gebreyes asks. "That is an extremely important question for consumers, policy-makers and researchers."

From issue 2661 of New Scientist magazine, 24 June 2008, page 6

OIE extends list of countries with negligible BSE risk

2008-06-10T10:46:00.003+01:00

At its 76th General Session, the World Organisation for Animal Health has extended the list of countries with negligible BSE risk in accordance with chapter 2.3.13 of the Terrestrial Animal Health Code. It now comprises Australia, Argentina, Finland, Iceland, New Zealand, Norway, Paraguay, Singapore, Sweden and Uruguay.

Source: OIE (http://www.oie.int/eng/info/en_statesb.htm?e1d6)

TAFS Statement on transmission of scrapie via milk

2008-04-11T11:55:00.002Z

TAFS has published a statement on the transmission of scrapie via milk on its website. The statement was triggered by the publication by Konold et al.: Evidence of scrapie transmission via milk, BMC Veterinary Research 2008, 4:14, which is available here.

TAFS/FAO/OIE workshop on MaP: summary and presentations available

2008-02-22T14:49:00.002Z

The TAFS Forum, together with FAO and OIE, hosted a workshop on bovine paratuberculosis and its etiological agent Mycobacterium avium paratuberculosis (MaP) in November 2007. A summary and some of the presentations of this workshop are now available on our website.

TAFS at CIES Food Safety Conference

2008-02-22T13:51:00.005Z

The TAFS Forum was represented at the CIES Food Safety Conference. Ulrich Sperling's presentation is available from the reports section of the TAFS Forum's website. The three main messages were:

Animal health issues are going to increase over time which is - among other aspects - an issue for food safety.
Instead of searching for geographical alternatives for safe sourcing, the food industry needs address these animal health issues and contribute to their solution.
Public/private partnerships are needed for successful control of animal diseases. Despite difficulties, success is possible.

The presentation fitted well into the general motto of the conference, which was that food retailers and producers are in the process of broadening their scope of responsibility, e.g., with respect to social aspects, the environment, nutrition, and - not least - animal health.

Position papers now available in Japanese

2008-02-13T15:14:00.002Z

All TAFS position papers are now available in Japanese language on the TAFS website. This service was sponsored by Zensho, represented by our member Makoto Hirano, and we appreciate it a lot. Arigato gozaimashita!

New web site: The TAFS Forum

2008-01-02T13:49:00.000Z

The TAFS Forum has a new website (still using the same address: http://www.tafsforum.org/). The reasons we changed the site are twofold: first of all, a fresher design and clearer structure was needed to improve its usability. Second, we wanted the site to reflect the idea of TAFS being a forum. The latin word forum originally meant 'planked area', but the meaning soon changed - reflecting the function of the world famous forum magnum in Rome and many other roman fora - to 'market place' and 'place for open discussion and exchange of opinions'. This is what the TAFS Forum is about: diverse stakeholders coming together, exchanging views and opinions and elaborating solutions to animal health and food safety issues.

Efsa: Salmonella down, Listeria up in EU 2006

2007-12-20T16:55:00.000Z

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) have launched their yearly joint Community report on infectious diseases transmissible from animals to humans (zoonotic diseases) which affect over 350,000 people in the European Union (EU) every year. The report shows that while the number of Salmonella infections in humans are still falling, infections from Listeria – which can be very dangerous to pregnant women and have a high mortality rate – are on the rise. Campylobacter infections still top the list of reported human zoonotic diseases. Resistance of Campylobacter bacteria in both humans and animals to one commonly used antimicrobial drug, ciprofloxacin, is reaching high levels and is cause for concern, the report said.

[source: Efsa website]

Welcome to three new members

2007-12-14T16:00:00.000Z

Subsequent to the TAFS/FAO/OIE workshop on Paratuberculosis/MaP, TAFS members have decided to invite three experts in this topic to join the TAFS Forum. All three have accepted the invitation.

We are very pleased to welcome to the TAFS Forum, with immediate effect:
- Dr. Irene Grant, Queens University, Belfast, Ireland
- Dr. Douwe Bakker, Central Institute for Animal Disease Control, CIDC-Lelystad, The Netherlands
- Dr. Mike Collins, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA.

EFSA opinion on the BSE related public health risks of certain animal proteins in animal feed

2007-11-19T22:39:00.000Z

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]

New Animal Health Strategy for the European Union (2007 - 2013)

2007-10-02T08:29:00.000Z

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]

Further information: Questions and Answers on the Community Animal Health Policy 2007-2013

Cellular prion protein regulates β-secretase cleavage

2007-08-03T08:10:00.000Z

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.

Hot spots in prion protein for pathogenic conversion

2007-08-03T07:40:00.000Z

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 PrP^C 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.

Classic scrapie in sheep with the ARR/ARR prion genotype in Germany and France

2007-07-12T09:36:00.000Z

New publication by Groschup et al.,
Emerg Infect Dis. 2007 Aug;

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.

Source of Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease outside United Kingdom

2007-07-10T15:22:00.000Z

This new publication by Sanchez-Juan et al. (Emerging Infectious Diseases, Vol. 13, No. 8, August 2007) seems to confirm the GBR and 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.

Susceptibility of Cattle to First-passage Intracerebral Inoculation with Chronic Wasting Disease Agent from White-tailed Deer

2007-07-09T16:08:00.000Z

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 agentof chronic wasting disease (CWD) from white-tailed deer (CWDwtd) to comparethe clinical signs and neuropathologic findings with those of certain othertransmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE, prion diseases) that havebeen shown to be experimentally transmissible to cattle (sheep scrapie, CWDof mule deer [CWDmd], bovine spongiform encephalopathy [BSE], andtransmissible mink encephalopathy). Two uninoculated calves served ascontrols. Within 26 months postinoculation (MPI), 12 inoculated calves hadlost considerable weight and eventually became recumbent. Of the 12inoculated calves, 11 (92%) developed clinical signs. Although spongiformencephalopathy (SE) was not observed, abnormal prion protein (PrPd) wasdetected by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and Western blot (WB) in centralnervous system tissues. The absence of SE with presence of PrPd has alsobeen observed when other TSE agents (scrapie and CWDmd) were similarlyinoculated into cattle. The IHC and WB findings suggest that the diagnostictechniques currently used to confirm BSE would detect CWDwtd in cattle,should it occur naturally. Also, the absence of SE and a distinctive IHCpattern of CWDwtd and CWDmd in cattle suggests that it should be possible todistinguish these conditions from other TSEs that have been experimentallytransmitted to cattle.

Oral Transmissibility of Prion Disease Is Enhanced by Binding to Soil Particles

2007-07-09T15:44:00.000Z

By Johnson et al., PLoS Pathog 3(7): e93,
http://pathogens.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&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.

TSEs: Commission adopts more proportionate requirements

2007-07-06T12:56:00.000Z

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]

The new regulation can be found at: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/site/en/oj/2007/l_165/l_16520070627en00080020.pdf

Dentistry and vCJD

2007-06-13T10:52:00.000Z

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.

New TAFS Member

2007-06-04T10:28:00.000Z

As per June 1st, 2007, TAFS welcomes Mr. Makoto Hirano of Zensho Co, Ltd, Tokyo, as its latest member.

Until now, all TAFS members were based either in Europe or North America. So, Mr. Hirano does not only bring an additional business and communication perspective to TAFS, but also extends the geographical scope to Asia.

Updated Position Paper on Specified Risk Material

2007-05-29T07:55:00.000Z

The position paper on specified risk material (SRM) has been updated. The new paper can be downloaded from the 'Position Papers' section of the TAFS website.

3 New Position Papers

2007-05-22T13:15:00.000Z

We have 3 new/updated position papers on our website:
- on atypical scrapie and atypical BSE
- on testing cattle for BSE - purpose and effectiveness
- on BSE in small ruminants.

You can download them from the 'Position Papers' section of the TAFS website.

If you have any questions or comments on the position papers, contact us at contact@tafsforum.org and we will forward your message to the respective author.