News

Survey underlines need for minimizing secondary human exposure to prions
16 August 2012 | Official publicationsThe Health Protection Agency of the UK has released its summary results of the second national survey of abnormal prion prevalence in archived appendix specimens. The Advisory Committee on Dangerous Pathogens (ACDP) TSE Risk Assessment Subgroup published a comment on the these results in a position paper.
BSE in Califormia in April was isolated but likely not unique
06 August 2012 | Technical news (commented)A final investigation summary into the Californian case of BSE in April this year has been published by FDA. The BSE case is confirmed to have been 'isolated', but there is no reason to assume it was unique.
Two new important reports on zoonotic diseases
05 July 2012 | Official publicationsTwo new important reports on zoonotic diseases and options to address them (‘One Health’) have been published online. Both of them list the World Bank/TAFS livestock disease atlas in their references, underlining the usefulness of our work.
The reports will be presented in detail at the next TAFS meeting.
GFSI and TAFS forum start collaboration
15 June 2012 | News on TAFSThe Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) and the TAFS forum have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to start collaborating on animal health and food safety matters.
GFSI will profit from the TAFS forum’s expertise in risk assessment and risk communication on animal health issues that are of relevance to food safety, whereas the TAFS forum gets access to a channel for implementation of its analyses. The combination of the two creates an integrated system of animal health and food safety issue management.
Irish Johnes eradication plan to start in January 2013
07 June 2012 | Technical news (uncommented clippings)A national programme to eradicate Johne's Disease (Paratuberculosis) will start in Ireland next January.
The disease is said to be 'a major cause for concern for dairy processors supplying product into the infant formula market', but beef processors are also believed to be 'anxious to tackle the issue'.
The Direct Relationship between Animal Health and Food Safety Outcomes
10 May 2012 | Technical news (uncommented clippings)In a commentary paper published this month, the Council for Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST) discusses "The Direct Relationship between Animal Health and Food Safety Outcomes".
Algorithm for Assessing the Risk to Food Safety Posed by a New Animal Disease
07 May 2012 | Technical news (uncommented clippings)Parker et al. have published the description on an "Algorithm for Assessing the Risk to Food Safety Posed by a New Animal Disease". Their approach is strikingly similar to the one taken regularly by TAFS to assess food safety risks.
Parker, E. M., Jenson, I., Jordan, D. and Ward, M. P. (2012), Development of an Algorithm for Assessing the Risk to Food Safety Posed by a New Animal Disease. Zoonoses and Public Health, 59: 184–192. doi: 10.1111/j.1863-2378.2011.01431.x
Fourth case of BSE found in USA
25 April 2012 | Technical news (uncommented clippings)USDA announced the identification of the fourth case of BSE in the USA. The cow was found dead on a dairy farm in central California and tested for BSE before the carcass would be released for rendering. Initial test results were inconclusive, but retesting by USDA's National Veterinary Services Laboratories in Ames, Iowa, using immunohistochemistry and western blots confirmed atypical BSE.
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