Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 22 Jun 2000

Vol. 521 No. 6

Written Answers. - Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease.

Ivor Callely

Ceist:

91 Mr. Callely asked the Minister for Health and Children if he will make a statement with regard to the most recent information available on the level of CJD or any such concern in relation to the consumption of Irish beef. [17712/00]

Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children (Dr. Moffatt)

Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease – CJD – is the collective name for a group of diseases which cause progressive dementia and a loss of control of movement and balance. The overall incidence of CJD is approximately one case per million per year. However, this has increased in recent years. This increase is most likely due to active surveillance which has been established in many countries as well as improvements in diagnosis.

There are four types of Creutzfeldt Jakob disease. Sporadic CJD, the most common, usually affects individuals between the age of 50 and 75 years and is characterised by a rapidly progressive dementia. Familial CJD is an inherited disease associated with a gene mutation. Iatrogenic CJD results from transmission of a causative agent via medical or surgical treatment using accidentally contaminated materials, e.g., surgical instruments. New variant CJD – VCJD – is a new disease which was first described in March 1996.

Experimental evidence now indicates the VCJD and BSE are caused by the same agent. Brain tissue from VCJD patients show similar features to animals experimentally infected with the BSE agent. The source of infection remains to be established. The most likely explanation is the ingestion by humans of BSE contaminated food during the height of the epidemic in the UK prior to the implementation of the ban on specified bovine offals in the human food chain.

The Scientific Steering Committee – SSC – of the European Union considers that a safe product can be offered to consumers if what is already scientifically known about BSE is correctly exploited in a logical order and provided that the resulting risk management measures are properly enforced and controlled. The SSC recently reaffirmed its original analysis that the removal from the food chain of specified risk materials would significantly decrease the risk of VCJD. The agent of BSE is concentrated in the brain and spinal cord of cattle and the use of these tissues in the production of food has been prohibited in Ireland for many years.

In 1997, following a risk assessment exercise, the United Kingdom authorities decided to ban the sale of beef on the backbone. This ban was lifted in 1999. Even though Irish BSE controls are substantially different from those in the UK and involve the slaughter and destruction of the complete herd in which a BSE case is found, as well as the slaughter of cohort animals, it has recently been decided that a risk assessment similar to that undertaken in the UK would be carried out in Ireland. The scientific sub-committee on BSE of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland will oversee this risk assessment exercise. The sub-committee is expected to submit a report of its findings to both the Minister for Health and Children and the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development within a number of months.

In Ireland, a system of active surveillance has been established to detect new cases of CJD. In 1999 there was one case of sporadic CJD in Ireland and one case of VCJD.

The CJD advisory group was established in September 1996 to advise the Minister for Health and Children on all issues relating to CJD, and to provide advice on particular issues referred to the group from time to time by the Minister. Included in the terms of reference of the advisory group is the surveillance of CJD in Ireland, the assessment of scientific developments, both nationally and internationally, with regard to the risks to public health concerning transmissible spongiform encephalopathy agents – TSEs – and CJD, and the provision of advice on research strategies for bovine spongiform encephalopathy – BSE – CJD. The chairman of the group is Professor William Hall, virologist, Virus Reference Laboratory, University College Dublin, and the group comprises experts in,inter alia, public health, neuro-pathology, haematology, food safety and veterinary science.