Disease Information
8 December 2000
Vol. 13 - No. 48BOVINE SPONGIFORM ENCEPHALOPATHY IN SPAIN
See also: 1 December 2000, 24 November 2000
Emergency report
Translation of the summary of two faxes received on 7 December 2000 from Dr Quintiliano Pérez Bonilla, Director General of Animal Production, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Madrid:
Report date: 7 December 2000.
Nature of diagnosis: laboratory.
Date of initial detection of animal health incident: 31 August 2000.
Date of laboratory confirmation: 7 December 2000.
Outbreaks:
Location No. of outbreaks Coristanco district, La Coruña province, Galicia Autonomous Community 1 Total number of animals in the outbreak:
susceptible cases deaths destroyed slaughtered 15 1 0 15 0 Diagnosis:
A. Laboratory where diagnosis was made: Department of Histology and Pathological Anatomy, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Zaragoza (National Reference Centre for Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies) and VLA - Weybridge(1) (OIE Reference Laboratory for bovine spongiform encephalopathy).
B. Diagnostic tests used: histopathological and immunohistochemical tests.
Epidemiology: the affected animal was subjected to emergency slaughter. Sampling was done within the framework of the activities of "the surveillance programme on animal spongiform encephalopathies in 2000".
A. Source of agent / origin of infection: investigations under way.
B. Other epidemiological details: the nearest cattle farm is 30 metres from the affected farm.
Control measures:
- BSE is a notifiable disease in Spain and is subject to an official control programme.
- The other ruminants present in the farm (i.e. 14 bovines) were preventively slaughtered and their carcasses destroyed.
(1) VLA: Veterinary Laboratories Agency of the United Kingdom.
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