Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the discovery of a case of atypical BSE in a cow in Scotland on UK agriculture.

BSE is not a contagious disease. There is no risk to animal and human health or food safety as a result of this isolated case.

Unlike classical BSE, which occurs through the consumption of contaminated feed, atypical BSE is believed to occur spontaneously at a very low level in all cattle populations. There have been just 3 cases in the UK since 2014.

The animal was tested under our surveillance system, demonstrating its effectiveness.

British beef remains safe to eat and can continue to be exported to trading partners.

Atypical BSE is not a notifiable disease for the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH). This case does not affect our WOAH ‘controlled’ risk status for BSE, nor the application submitted in August this year to have it further reduced to ‘negligible’.