[Risk assessment for importing bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE)]

Since the occurrence of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in Switzerland in 1990, extensive epidemiological investigations and risk factor analyses were carried out. In this study, statistical data on meat and bone meal traded from 1985 to 1989 were analysed addressing the following questions: i) what amount of meat and bone meal was exported from Great Britain (GB) and where to and ii) what amount of meat and bone meal was imported into Switzerland and where from? The findings led to the hypothesis that imported material potentially infected with scrapie-like agents was the cause for BSE in Switzerland.