The findings of a French research team that may point to the first ever instance of BSE in a goat has been submitted to an expert panel by the European Commission.

While sheep and goats are known to contract transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs), it usually takes the form of scrapie. The French team has, however, identified the presence of a TSE infection in a goat's brain which they say cannot be distinguished from BSE. Scientists have long regarded BSE in sheep and goats as theoretically possible, but it has never been detected.

The expert panel at the Community Reference Laboratory in Weybridge, the UK, will now evaluate the scientific evidence in order to see whether it indicates the presence of BSE in the goat. Even if BSE is found, this does not present a risk to public health as neither the goat or its herd entered the food chain.

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Source: Cordis News
October 29, 2004

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