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Risk assessment and surveillance for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in Argentina |
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| Authors: | A A Schudel B J Carrillo E L Weber J Blanco Viera E J Gimeno C van Gelderen E Ulloa A Nader B G Can R H Kimberlin |
| Institution: | a Institutos de Virología y Patobiología, Centro de Investigatión en Ciencias Veterinarias, Instituto National de Tecnología Agropecuaria, Castelar, CC 77, (1708), Morón, Buenos Aires, Argentina b Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias, Universidad National de la Plata, 60-118, (1900), La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina c Serono Argentina S.A., Santiago del Estero 2455, (1640), Martínez, Buenos Aires, Argentina d Servicio National de Sanidad Animal (SENASA), Secretaría de Agricultura, Ganadería y Pesca, Paseo Colón 367, Buenos Aires, Argentina e SARDAS, 27 Laverockdale Park, Edinburgh EH13 0QE, UK f CONICET, Rivadavia 1917, Argentina |
| Abstract: | An assessment was made of the risks of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) occurring in Argentina. Most of the factors associated with the origin and development of the BSE epidemic in the UK are essentially absent. For example, Argentina's large sheep and cattle industries are based on low-cost production systems using grass. Concentrated feeds are not used for sheep, rarely for beef cattle and to a comparatively modest extent for dairy cows. Particularly important are the facts that scrapie (and BSE) has never been reported in Argentina—very small amounts of waste tissues from sheep are rendered to produce meat and bone meal (MBM)—and MBM is not used in concentrated feeds for cattle. We conclude that Argentina has an exceptionally low risk of BSE due to scrapie. There is a very small risk of BSE having been introduced via live animals imported from countries with BSE, but this could only give rise to isolated cases because MBM is not fed to cattle. A surveillance programme has been carried out based largely on a histological examination of brains from three categories of old dairy cows: animals reported on the suspicion of having neurological disease; animals in poor condition at slaughter; healthy animals randomly selected in the abattoir. No evidence of transmissible spongiform encephalopathy was seen in several sections from each of a total of 1019 brains. We conclude that, for most practical purposes, Argentina may be considered to be free from BSE. |
| Keywords: | Argentina Bovine spongiform encephalopathy Risk assessment Scrapie Surveillance |
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