. /.WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/SPS/GEN/260
5 July 2001
(01-3343)
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures Original:  English/
French/
Spanish
JOINT WHO/FAO/OIE TECHNICAL CONSULTATION ON BSE:
PUBLIC HEALTH, ANIMAL HEALTH AND TRADE
Meeting held at OIE Headquarters in Paris on 11-14 June 2001
PRESS RELEASE
Paris, 14 June – Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) and variant Creutzfeld-Jakob
Disease (vCJD) should be considered as an international issue as potentially infected BSE materials
have been distributed throughout the world through trade of live cattle, certain cattle products and by-
products.  All countries are urged to evaluate their potential exposure and should take necessary
actions, according to the recommendations of the f our-day technical consultation which ended today.
The  meeting was jointly organized by the World Health Organization (WHO), the UN Food
and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Worl d Animal Health Organization (OIE).  The
conference was a major step towards strengthening their efforts and speak with one voice about the
risks associated with BSE and vCJD.
More than 150 veterinarians, food safety experts and health officials called upon governments
to consider the ban the feeding of meat and bone meal (MBM) to ruminants and to put in placesurveillance and testing.
The consultation adopted the following main recommendations:
• The original source and movement of animals and animal products, including MBM,
can be masked by international trading patterns which often include the processing
and re-export of products.  Consequently, importing countries should be aware of
risks generated by these existing trading patterns and illegal trade.
• Countries should not become complacent abou t their risk from BSE.  The extremely
low initial incidence and  limited clustering of BSE cases, protracted latency and non-specific nature of the early clinical signs of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy tend
to mask the severity of the problem.
• All countries are urged to evaluate their potential exposure through systematic
assessment of trade data and possible risk factors.  In addition, countries should beaware that their trading status may be dependent upon the risk assessment for BSE.
• Additional resources should  be made  available to assist nations particularly in the
developing world in assessing their potential exposure to BSE-infected materials andin identifying measures which may be necessary for managing the risk associated
with this exposure.G/SPS/GEN/260
Page 2
• The OIE has developed guidelines for assessing the BSE risk status of regions,
countries and zones.  More specific guidance for conducting these risk, assessmentsin particular for human health, taking advantage of the experience of countries and
other international organizations are required.
• Protection of public health is the overarch ing goal of BSE risk management.  Risk
management strategies must be science-based, transparent and not more trade
restrictive than necessary for health protection.  Implementation of the chosen riskmanagement options must be strictly enforced to protect global health and trade.
Efforts by authorities must be directed at ensuring full compliance.
• Ruminant MBM and greaves should not be fed in any case to ruminant animals.
Monitoring of compliance with the feed bans needs further development of reliablecertification programmes and screening tests to guarantee the absence of BSE
infectivity in ruminant feedstuffs traded internationally.  Emphasis must be placed onthe development of rapid and reliable tests for the detection of ruminant protein.
• Countries should strongly consider, on the basis of the risk assessment, the use of
appropriate tests on target animal populations.
• The consultation considered that BSE contaminated MBM will have been fed to some
sheep and goats in certain countries and that these species may have been infectedwith BSE agent.  It is therefore recommended that individual countries assess the risk
that BSE infection is present in their indigenous sheep/goat population.  All countries
are encouraged to require notification and surveillance for TSE diseases of
sheep/goats and to take steps to mitigate risks identified.
• In countries where sheep and goat populations have been potentially exposed to
BSE infectivity, measures should be taken to minimize the exposure of humans toinfectivity from sheep and goats.
• Efforts to investigate the presence of natural BSE in sheep and goats should be
continued.
• The research available to date indicates that oral BSE challenge of pigs and poultry
does not result in disease and that there is no evidence for residual infectivity present
in tissues.
• Scientists should continue to be proactive, take the initiative to communicate new
information about BSE and its risks, as it becomes available, even though it may beunsettling to the public.  They should make clear what is being done to address these
risks.
Journalists who would like more information about the issues discussed are welcome to contact:
WHO:  Fadéla Chaïb;  Tel:  (+ 41 22) 791 3228 or Mobile phone (+33 6) 721 766 35;  E-mail:
chaibf@who.int
FAO:  Erwin Northoff;  Tel:( + 39 06 ) 570 5 3105 or Mobile phone (+39 348) 2572921;  E-mail:
erwin.northoff@fao.org
OIE:  Maria Zampaglione;  Tel: (+ 33 1) 44 151 881);  E-mail:  m.zampaglione@oie.int
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