OIE Regional BSE meeting for Asia and the Pacific, held in Kathmandu, Nepal on 26 November 2001
The OIE Regional BSE meeting for Asia and the Pacific was held in Kathmandu, Nepal on 26 November 2001. This meeting was organised before the OIE Conference of the Regional Commission for Asia, the Far East and Oceania, to present the facts, to share the experiences of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) and to create awareness on BSE issues among Chief Veterinary Officers (CVOs) and their staff members in the region.
The meeting was attended by 60 participants from 21 countries including Australia, Bhutan, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Taipei China, Thailand, United States of America and Vietnam, and three international organisations (OIE, FAO and the Secretariat of the Pacific Community).
Papers were presented by Prof. U. Kihm and Dr D. Heim from the Swiss Veterinary Services on wider aspects of BSE on (a) Review of the BSE situation worldwide, (b) Risk assessment and Communication, and (c) Surveillance and implementation of measures.
The reports included the history of discoveries of Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (TSEs) and of the outbreak of BSE in the UK. There followed a comparison of the descriptive epidemiology of BSE in the UK and Switzerland and elsewhere in Europe as well as the aspects of tests for BSE of diagnosis and surveillance. Pathogenesis of TSEs was discussed together with the problems of how to detect infectivity. Lectures and discussions were followed by measures for the management of BSE, including the role of culling of animals, rendering conditions, ruminant feed bans, removal of specified risk material (SRM) and total feed bans, and Risk assessment.
The recent BSE incidences (two cattle) in Japan were also reported. They were confirmed respectively both in September and November 2001. The Japan's incidence was recognised as the first case in the Asian and Pacific region.
The key outcome of the WHO/FAO/OIE Conference on BSE, which took place in Paris from 12 to 14 June 2001, was also reported by Dr. B. Vallat, Director General of the OIE. For the first time, the three organisations and all the experts took a common position on the risk evaluation of TSEs.
A wider range of discussions on BSE matters were made, and member countries recognised that (a) the international trade in Meat and Bone Meal (MBM) has resulted in BSE becoming a global problem, (b) no country can assure it has not had exposure to BSE without a detailed risk assessment, and (c) they need undertake formal, detailed risk assessments of the possibility of cases of BSE occurring in each of their countries.
It was recommended that member countries establish a laboratory diagnostic capability for BSE based on histopathology and immunohistochemistry, as a matter of urgency, in order to be able to exclude BSE as the cause of cases of neurological disease.
Member countries are required to initiate a programme of targeted surveillance in risk populations and a surveillance based on reporting and investigation of cases of neurological disease.
There should be a programme of communication of the risk analysis process and surveillance strategy to public health authorities, the media and the general public, to help maintain consumer confidence.