BSE and sheep

BSE has never been found in the UK sheep flock. However, some sheep were fed the same feed (meat and bone meal) that is thought to have given cattle BSE and laboratory research has shown that sheep can be artificially infected with BSE. It is possible that BSE is hidden by scrapie in sheep and passed between flocks or from a mother to her lambs.

The Food Standards Agency is not advising against the consumption of sheep meat or sheep products, but will continue to take a precautionary approach and recommend precautionary and proportionate measures to protect the public against the possible risk of BSE in sheep.

What precautionary controls exist in relation to sheep?

Specified Risk Material (SRM) controls for sheep have been in place in the UK since 1996. The parts of sheep currently specified as SRM throughout the EU are:

• all ages: the spleen and the ileum
• sheep over 12 months of age (or with one permanent incisor erupted): the skull (including the brain and eyes), spinal cord and tonsils.

What is the risk if BSE is present in sheep?

BSE infected sheep are thought to have similar tissue distribution of infectivity to scrapie infected sheep. This means that the existing SRM controls would be insufficient to eliminate all the risk of exposure to infectivity. If BSE were found in the sheep flock, additional measures beyond the current precautionary SRM controls might be necessary.

It is known from laboratory research that some sheep genotypes are more susceptible to experimental BSE infection than others.

What is the Agency doing about this?

The FSA aims to ensure that its policies on sheep meat intended for human consumption are underpinned by the latest science. The Agency spends around £2m a year on its transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) research programme. Initiatives have included a project designed to assist in contingency planning and to provide a better understanding of the range and type of products derived from sheep.
The Agency advice continues to be that it is not advising people to stop eating sheep meat or sheep products. However, if BSE were present in sheep, consumers should be aware that their potential exposure to risk could be reduced by avoiding mutton and sausages with casings made from sheep intestine.

Is any community particularly affected?

There is a higher potential risk of infectivity in mutton. A significant proportion of mutton in the UK is consumed by the Muslim and Afro-Carribbean communities.

What about babies and children?

The fact that vCJD is primarily a disease of young adults suggests that the young may either be more susceptible and/or have been more exposed to infection. Independent experts have advised that in the first few months babies, in some circumstances, might be more susceptible but this would typically be in the period before weaning.

What is the Agency's advice for babies and children and what is it doing?

The Agency is not advising against the consumption of sheep meat by children or babies. The Agency has reached an agreement with baby food manufacturers for voluntary 'country of origin' labelling on lamb products to enable parents to select products from countries considered to pose a negligible risk if they wish to do so.

What can I do to reduce any possible risk?

If BSE were present in sheep, the risk to consumers could be significantly reduced by avoiding mutton and sausages with casings made from sheep intestines.