Volume 16: Reference Material
1. BSE chronology

DATE	EVENT
January 1990	Dr Harash Narang gives a talk to the British Neuropathological Society, arguing that CJD surveillance should be a top priority.
1990	Dr Stephen Dealler visits the NPU, Dr Hugh Fraser and Dr Moira Bruce.
1990	US Department of Agriculture researchers begin experiments injecting scrapie-infected material into cows.
9 January 1990	Publication of the Tyrrell Report and the Government's response (all top and medium priority work recommended is either under way or about to be undertaken). Publication had been delayed to ensure that the finance for R&D was in place; the research itself was not delayed.
30 January 1990	The Bovine Offal (Prohibition) (Scotland) Regulations 1990 (SI 1990/112) and the Bovine Offal (Prohibition) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1990 (SI 1990/30) introduce the SBO ban in Scotland and Northern Ireland following additional consultation.
31 January 1990	Announcement that five antelopes have succumbed to a spongiform encephalopathy (greater kudu, Arabian oryx, eland, nyala and gemsbok; the last two had been referred to in the Southwood Report).
3 February 1990	The Veterinary Record reports cattle-to-cattle transmission after intracerebral and intravenous inoculation of BSE brain tissue, and transmission to mice via the oral route.
7 February 1990	European Commission Decision 90/59/EEC states that the UK shall not export to other EU Member States live cattle other than those aged under six months and bearing a special mark; or live cattle born to cows in which BSE is suspected or has been officially confirmed.
14 February 1990	The Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Compensation Order (SI 1990/222) introduces 100 per cent compensation up to a ceiling. There is no sudden surge of cases, which would have indicated that farmers had been under-reporting.
22 February 1990	Submission to Mr Gummer concerning 'advice on what action should be taken in response to the possibility that maternal transmission of the disease might occur in advance of results from the offspring experiment currently under way'.
8 March 1990	Dr Watson retires from the CVL.
12 March 1990	MAFF Food Safety Directorate holds its first of a regular series of 'Consumer Panels' on food safety. Discussions include BSE.
14 March 1990	Mr Gummer decides to seek SEAC's opinion (see below: 3 April) on whether to use voluntary or statutory schemes to prevent breeding from the offspring of affected cattle.
31 March 1990	Dr Hope's resignation as director of the NPU becomes effective. Dr Chris Bostock of the Institute for Animal Health takes his place.
1 April 1990	BSE made notifiable to the European Commission (Decision 90/134/EEC, made 6 March).
3 April 1990	Announcement of the establishment of the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee (SEAC).
9 April 1990	EC Decision to ban exports of SBO and other tissues (90/200/EEC) formalises the administrative ban imposed on 30 March.
April 1990	First identified victim of Feline Spongiform Encephalopathy (FSE), a Siamese cat which is put down by scientists at Bristol University. The FSE is discovered by veterinary surgeons Ms Janet Bradshaw (formerly Wyatt) and Dr Geoffrey Pearson. The case is referred for expert opinion to Mr Wells and Mr McGill at the CVL.
May 1990	Resumption of surveillance of CJD, funded by the DH and the Scottish Office: the national CJD Surveillance Unit is established at Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, under the direction of Dr Robert Will.
1 May 1990	First meeting of SEAC.
8 May 1990	Mr Wells confirms FSE diagnosis from Bristol University.
10 May 1990	Announcement of a cat with spongiform encephalopathy.
13 May 1990	The Sunday Times reports Professor Richard Lacey's call for the slaughter of all infected herds.
15 May 1990	Several education authorities impose complete or partial bans on British beef in school meals.
15 May 1990	Mr Gummer announces that 'British beef is perfectly safe to eat'.
16 May 1990	News that some butchers have reported a 50 per cent drop in sales in the previous week.
16 May 1990	Chief Medical Officer Sir Donald Acheson's assurance that beef is safe to eat.
16 May 1990	Agriculture Select Committee decides to hold an inquiry into BSE.
17 May 1990	The Meat and Livestock Commission (MLC) advertises in the national press that 'eating British beef is completely safe'.
17 May 1990	Second meeting of SEAC.
17 May 1990	Announcement of SEAC's advice that decisions about breeding from offspring of affected cows should be left to individual farmers and their veterinary advisers.
3rd week May 1990	Mr Gummer features in the media feeding hamburgers to his young daughter.
23 May 1990	Northern Ireland's CMO endorses Sir Donald Acheson's statement that beef is safe.
late May 1990	DH and MAFF staff visit school authorities to explain 'why beef should continue on school dinner menus'.
late May 1990 to early 1991	France, Austria, West Germany and Italy ban British beef.
June 1990	MAFF issues a BSE Advisory Note to Farmers on the importance of reporting BSE suspect cases and the procedures to be followed, together with general guidance on various aspects of the disease.
7 June 1990	France, West Germany and Italy agree to lift their bans under certain conditions (see below).
8 June 1990	The European Council of Ministers agrees arrangements for trade in beef and calves from the UK (Decision 90/261/EEC). This requires bone-in beef for export to come from holdings where BSE has not been confirmed in the previous two years.
13 June 1990	Third meeting of SEAC.
14 June 1990	MAFF issues guidance to abattoirs that head meat must be recovered from the intact skull before the brain is removed.
2 July 1990	Fourth meeting of SEAC.
12 July 1990	Publication of SEAC's detailed reasoning on why there is no scientific evidence currently available to support official advice against the use for breeding of the offspring of cows suffering from BSE (SEAC: The Control of BSE in Cattle).
12 July 1990	Report of the House of Commons Agriculture Committee published (Agriculture Select Committee Fifth Report: BSE: Report of Proceedings of the Committee together with Minutes of Evidence and Appendices). This includes, at Appendix 18, a memorandum submitted by the British Veterinary Association (BVA) containing advice against breeding from the calves of cows with BSE (paragraph 34; dated June 1990).
24 July 1990	Dr Tyrrell sends the CMO the 'Opinion on the Public Health Implications of Eating Beef and the Epidemic of BSE', detailing SEAC's rationale for its conclusion that 'British beef can be eaten safely'.
26 July 1990	Ad hoc meeting of the MRC about coordinating national studies on CJD. This establishes a Coordinating Committee on Spongiform Encephalopathies (the Murray Committee).
7 September 1990	SEAC emergency meeting to discuss transmission of BSE to a pig.
19 September 1990	Fifth meeting of SEAC.
24 September 1990	Announcement on improved record-keeping in cattle herds (see below: 15 October).
24 September 1990	Laboratory transmission of BSE to a pig announced. SEAC advises that there are no implications for human health but that, as a precaution for animal health, there should be a ban on specified types of offal in all animal feed (including pet food).
25 September 1990	The Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (No. 2) Amendment Order 1990 (SI 1990/1930) extends the ban on the use of Specified Bovine Offal to any animal feed. Exports of such feed are also effectively banned to other Member States. (Third country exports are banned under DTI legislation on 10 July 1991.)
28-29 September 1990	Office International des Epizooties (OIE) meeting in Paris at which recommendations are made about trade in cattle, beef, dairy and bovine products and the coordination of research.
Autumn 1990	Restructuring of the MAFF Animal Health Group at Tolworth.
2-5 October 1990	OIE conference in Sofia (Bulgaria) makes recommendations about trade, the prevention, control and surveillance of BSE, support for research and the need for further consideration of trade in live animals.
15 October 1990	The Bovine Animals (Identification, Marking and Breeding Records) Order 1990 (SI 1990/1867) introduces new record-keeping arrangements requiring cattle farmers to maintain breeding records. These and movement records are to be retained for ten years.
24 October 1990	First meeting (of five) of the MRC Coordinating (Murray) Committee on Spongiform Encephalopathies.
1 November 1990	Sixth meeting of SEAC.
6 November 1990	EU Ministers agree a 30 per cent reduction in direct subsidies to farmers over ten years.
11 November 1990	Mr William Waldegrave succeeds Mr Kenneth Clarke as Secretary of State at the Department of Health.
21 November 1990	Publication of the Government's response to the Agriculture Committee Report (see 12 July).
28 November 1990	Mr John Major succeeds Mrs Margaret Thatcher as Prime Minister.
December 1990	Professor Eric Lamming is approached with a request to chair the Expert Group on Animal Feedingstuffs.
16 December 1990	Second meeting of the MRC Coordinating (Murray) Committee includes a three-day international seminar on the molecular approaches to spongiform encephalopathies.
6 February 1991	MAFF announces the establishment of the Expert Group on Animal Feedingstuffs chaired by Professor Lamming.
7 February 1991	Seminar to advise SEAC on the ways in which they should be looking at epidemiology. Among those present are Dr D Reid from Ruchill Hospital, Glasgow, Professor Peter G Smith and Dr Paul Fine from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and Dr Paul Brown from the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland.
15 February 1991	First meeting of the Lamming Committee.
7 March 1991	Seventh meeting of SEAC.
13 March 1991	Second meeting of the Lamming Committee.
27 March 1991	First case of BSE in offspring born after the ruminant feed ban.
5 April 1991	Third meeting of the MRC Coordinating (Murray) Committee on Spongiform Encephalopathies, in Edinburgh. First meeting of its Clinical Subcommittee (the Allen Committee).
11 April 1991	Third meeting of the Lamming Committee.
10 May 1991	Eighth meeting of SEAC.
20 May 1991	Fourth meeting of the Lamming Committee.
May 1991	OIE 59th General Session, Paris, at which the OIE decides to adopt a BSE chapter in its International Animal Health Code.
13 June 1991	Fifth meeting of the Lamming Committee.
28 June 1991	Ninth meeting of SEAC.
28 June 1991	Sixth meeting of the Lamming Committee.
1 July 1991	Fourth meeting of the MRC Coordinating (Murray) Committee on Spongiform Encephalopathies, held jointly with the second meeting of its Clinical Subcommittee (the Allen Committee).
7 July 1991	European Commission approves proposals to reform the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), cutting cereal prices by 35 per cent, beef prices by 25 per cent and milk quotas by 15 per cent.
10 July 1991	The Export of Goods (Control) (Amendment No. 7) Order 1991 (SI 1991/1583) comes into force, controlling the export of SBO to third countries (DTI legislation).
August 1991	Monopolies and Mergers Commission reports on the merger between Prosper de Mulder Ltd (PDM) and Croda International plc.
15 August 1991	Seventh meeting of the Lamming Committee.
2-4 September 1991	Conference on 'Prion Diseases in Humans and Animals', held at the Royal Institute of British Architects, London.
6 September 1991	Tenth meeting of SEAC.
27 September 1991	Eighth meeting of the Lamming Committee.
10 October 1991	Ninth meeting of the Lamming Committee.
14 October 1991	Fifth and final meeting of the MRC Coordinating (Murray) Committee on Spongiform Encephalopathies.
23 October 1991	Tenth meeting of the Lamming Committee.
November 1991	Report of the MRC Coordination (Murray) Committee on Spongiform Encephalopathies.
6 November 1991	The Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Order 1991 (SI 1991/2246) consolidates existing BSE legislation and introduces new provisions to prevent the use of MBM produced from SBO as a fertiliser.
14 November 1991	Eleventh meeting of the Lamming Committee.
28 November 1991	Eleventh meeting of SEAC.
11 December 1991	Twelfth meeting of the Lamming Committee.
17 January 1992	Thirteenth meeting of the Lamming Committee.
13 February 1992	Article in The Guardian by James Erlichman quoting concerns by Professor Lacey that the offal ban has not stopped the spread of BSE.
19 February 1992	Fourteenth (final) meeting of the Lamming Committee.
4 March 1992	MAFF announces that BSE has been transmitted to a marmoset; and that SEAC has concluded that the measures currently in place provide adequate safeguards for human and animal health.
12 March 1992	The Bovine Offal (Prohibition) (Amendment) Regulations 1992 (SI 1992/306) implement recommendations made by advisory committees to prohibit the use of the head after the skull is opened, in order to prevent contamination of head meat by the process of brain removal, and the removal of the brain except in an area which is free at all times from any food intended for human consumption.
9 April 1992	General Election won by the Conservative Party.
28 April 1992	Twelfth meeting of SEAC.
May 1992	OIE General Assembly in Paris agrees trading conditions for bovine products from countries affected by BSE.
14 May 1992	EC Decision prohibiting intra-community trade in bovine embryos derived from BSE-suspected or confirmed dams or from dams born before 18 July 1988 (Decision 92/290/EEC).
June 1992	World Health Organisation (WHO) publishes 'Public health issues related to animal and human spongiform encephalopathies: a memorandum from a WHO meeting (12-14 November 1991)'.
11 June 1992	Mrs Virginia Bottomley succeeds Mr William Waldegrave as Secretary of State for Health.
15 June 1992	Report of the Expert Group on Animal Feedingstuffs (Lamming Report) submitted to the Government and released immediately. The Government's response to the recommendations is published soon after.
23 June 1992	First report of the national CJD Surveillance Unit is published, covering the periods 1985 to April 1990 and 1 May 1990 to 30 April 1992.
30 June 1992	Publication of the Interim Report on Research by SEAC (the report is dated April 1992).
November 1992	UK Progress Report presented to the EU Standing Veterinary Committee.
12 November 1992	Questionnaire on ruminant feed goes out to UKASTA member companies. It seeks to discover the extent to which ruminant protein remained in the cattle feed chain after July 1988.
15 November 1992	Thirteenth meeting of SEAC.
24 November 1992	Announcement, by way of response to a Parliamentary Question, that details of the total number of cases of BSE (by county) will be placed regularly in the library of the House of Commons.
15 December 1992	UK Progress Report placed in the library of the House of Commons.
1992-93	BSE cases reach their peak: 0.3 per cent of the national herd. BSE incidence starts to decline in early 1993.
1993	Spongiform Encephalopathy Research Council (SERC) established by Dr Stephen Dealler as an association of independent scientists.
January 1993	Under the Fresh Meat (Hygiene and Inspection) Regulations 1992 (SI 1992/2037), central government takes over the licensing of all slaughterhouses. From this time, all slaughterhouses have to have an Official Veterinary Surgeon. Previously it was only export slaughterhouses.
1 January 1993	The Animals and Animal Products (Export and Import) Regulations 1992 (SI 1992/3295) implement Commission Decision 90/200/EEC. These Regulations prohibit the export of bovine animals not complying with EC legislation listed in schedule 3.
11 March 1993	Chief Medical Officer Dr Kenneth Calman repeats his predecessor's (Sir Donald Acheson's) assurance that beef is safe to eat.
22 April 1993	Fourteenth meeting of SEAC.
27 May 1993	Mrs Gillian Shephard succeeds Mr John Gummer as MAFF Minister.
27 May 1993	UK Progress Report to the OIE placed in the House of Commons library.
10 June 1993	UK Progress Report to the OIE presented to the EU Standing Veterinary Committee.
22 June 1993	Dr Tyrrell, Mr Bradley and Mr Wilesmith meet Professor Lacey and Dr Dealler.
14 July 1993	100,000th confirmed case of BSE in Great Britain announced in response to a Parliamentary Question, as an update to the UK Progress Report to the OIE.
September 1993	Monopolies and Mergers Commission reports on the supply of animal waste in England and Wales and in Scotland. It finds 'a monopoly situation in England and Wales in favour of PDM and certain subsidiary and related compaines . . . [and] in Scotland in favour of William Forrest & Son'.
7 October 1993	Fifteenth meeting of SEAC.
25 November 1993	GB Progress Report placed in the library of the House of Commons.
1 December 1993	In answer to a Parliamentary Question, Mr Nicholas Soames MP explains the arrangements MAFF has for obtaining independent expert advice on the safety of animal feedstuffs. Contrary to the Lamming Committee's recommendation for a standing advisory committee on all feedstuffs issues, the Government concludes that these issues can be properly assessed by regular reviews by MAFF and DH 'to identify any matters that may require an independent appraisal and then obtain whatever specialist advice is needed to evaluate the specific issue'.
1 January 1994	The Animals and Animal Products (Export and Import) Regulations 1993 (SI 1993/3247) revoke and replace the 1992 Regulations, and implement Commission Decision 92/290/EEC.
26 January 1994	Sixteenth meeting of SEAC.
April 1994	The Research Councils are restructured. The AFRC becomes the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), taking over responsibility for biological sciences from the Science and Engineering Council (renamed the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council). The MRC remains unchanged.
1 April 1994	The Bovine Encephalopathy Compensation Order (SI 1994/673) comes into force and introduces changes to the BSE compensation arrangements.
26 April 1994	GB Progress Report placed in the library of the House of Commons.
May 1994	UK Progress Report presented to the OIE General Assembly.
24 May 1994	The Export of Goods (Control) Order 1994 (SI 1994/1191) revokes the 1991 Order and re-enacts the relevant restrictions.
June 1994	UK Progress Report updated.
25 June 1994	Emergency SEAC meeting ('No. 16a') following experimental oral transmission of BSE to cattle.
27 June 1994	Commission Decision 94/381/EC on BSE and the feeding of mammalian-derived protein. Prohibition on the feeding of mammalian protein to ruminants throughout the EU except Denmark.
27 June 1994	Commission Decision 94/382/EC on the approval of alternative heat treatment systems for processing animal waste. Effective 1 January 1995.
30 June 1994	Interim results of a further BSE experiment (pathogenesis) are announced, revealing infectivity in the distal ileum (intestine) of calves killed six and ten months after exposure to BSE (but not in a calf killed two months after exposure). Extension of the SBO ban to calf intestine is implemented voluntarily by industry.
20 July 1994	Mr William Waldegrave succeeds Mrs Gillian Shephard as Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.
27 July 1994	Commission Decision 94/474/EC introduces new measures on beef exports. Bone-in beef for export must come only from cattle certified as not having been on holdings where BSE has been confirmed in the previous six years.
30 August 1994	Seventeenth meeting of SEAC.
November 1994	Publication of Mad Cow Disease: The History of BSE in Britain, by Professor Lacey. The book is not stocked in bookshops.
2 November 1994	The Bovine Offal (Prohibition) (Amendment) Regulations 1994 (SI 1994/2628) extend the controls in the principal Regulations to include thymus and intestines of all bovine animals, except those under two months which have died. The Spongiform Encephalopathy (Miscellaneous Amendments) Order 1994 (SI 1994/2627) extends the ban on the use of SBO in animal feed, bans the use of mammalian protein in ruminant feedstuffs and makes notifiable laboratory suspicion of spongiform encephalopathies in species other than cattle, sheep and goats.
14 December 1994	Commission Decision 94/474/EC amended by Decision 94/794/EC. Beef from cattle born after 1 January 1992 is excluded from the certification requirement.
16 December 1994	GB Progress Report placed in the library of the House of Commons.
30 January 1995 and 1 April 1995 (article (8))	The Bovine Animals (Records, Identification and Movement) Order 1995 (BARIMO) (SI 1995/12) implements the requirement to identify cattle in Commission Decision 94/474/EC. It revokes and replaces the Bovine Animals (Identification, Marking and Breeding Records) Order 1990 as amended; provides for the identification and registration of bovine animals; and requires movement records to be kept.
February 1995	SEAC report Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies: A Summary of Present Knowledge and Research published.
10 February 1995	Eighteenth meeting of SEAC, at which great concern is expressed at the cattle Born After the ruminant feed Ban (BABs) that are confirmed as BSE-positive.
13-16 February 1995	A five-person team of scientists reviews the whole MAFF transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) research programme at Nobel House, Whitehall. The reviewers are Professor Almond, Dr Kimberlin, Professor W D Hueston, Dr Rosalind Ridley and Dr Chris Bostock.
March 1995	According to the Lamming Committee's oral evidence (T7 p. 66), information from scientific experiments becomes available that infection can occur with 1 gram of infected material. The previous December, MAFF Permanent Secretary Mr Richard Packer had mentioned an experiment that had shown '0.5 gm of infected raw cow's brain fed to sheep will cause "BSE"' (YB94/12.2/1.3).
March 1995	Channel 4 approaches Dr David Ray to test the organophosphate (OP) theory.
6 March 1995	Commission Decision 95/60/EC lifts the restriction in Commission Decision 94/381/EC on the use of milk, gelatine, amino acids, dicalcium phosphate and dried plasma and other blood products from mammalian tissues in feedstuffs for ruminants.
31 March 1995	Public Health Trust Conference on BSE.
1 April 1995	The Fresh Meat (Hygiene and Inspection) Regulations 1995 (SI 1995/539) come into force. These implement Commission Decision 94/474/EC as amended by Commission Decision 94/794/EC. They require, in meat-cutting premises, the removal of spinal cord from bovines over six months old and the removal and collection of obvious nervous and lymphatic tissue and prohibition of its use for human consumption.
1 April 1995	The Bovine Offal (Prohibition) (Amendment) Regulations 1995 (SI 1995/613) come into force, making it a requirement to stain SBO with a solution of Patent Blue V (E 131, 1971 Colour Index No. 42051) (Commission Decision 94/474/EC refers to this).
1 April 1995	The Animal By-Products (Identification) Regulations 1995 (SI 1995/614) provide for the sterilisation and staining of animal by-products and for the control of movement of such by-products.
1 April 1995	The results of a case control study (of 300 BSE herds) are published in the Veterinary Record. Transmission to newborns is discussed.
1 April 1995	A national Meat Hygiene Service (MHS) replaces local authority hygiene inspections.
15 May 1995	UK Progress Report presented to the OIE General Assembly in Paris.
18 May 1995	GB Progress Report placed in the library of the House of Commons.
21 May 1995	Stephen Churchill dies aged 18, later confirmed as the first known victim of vCJD. See 28 October 1995. His is one of three vCJD deaths in 1995.
21 June 1995	Nineteenth meeting of SEAC.
25 June 1995	SEAC receives a report from the MHS (which was carrying out an audit of hygiene and welfare standards in British meat plants). This reveals 'various faults in the processing of meat'.
5 July 1995	Mr Douglas Hogg succeeds Mr William Waldegrave as Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, and Mr Stephen Dorrell succeeds Mrs Virginia Bottomley as Secretary of State for Health.
18 July 1995	Commission Decision 94/474/EC as amended by Commission Decision 94/794, now amended by 95/287/EC, introduces new measures on beef exports. The previous exemption for beef from cattle born after 1 January 1992 from certification requirements is replaced with an exemption for beef from cattle less than 2.5 years old at slaughter. The Decision also introduces a requirement for routine monitoring in feedmills.
19 July 1995	The MRC decides to change its NPU contribution from core funding to grant-based funding, effective from March 1998.
28 July 1995	Dr Ray writes a report on the results of the Channel 4 OP test, which is made available to Mr Mark Purdey, the MRC and MAFF.
August 1995	The CJD Surveillance Unit identifies its second suspect case of CJD in a remarkably young patient. See 28 October 1995. Later confirmed as vCJD.
August 1995	The fourth annual report of the CJD Surveillance Unit notes the apparently high incidence of CJD in farmers, particularly in three dairy farmers who have had BSE in their herds.
15 August 1995	The Specified Bovine Offal Order 1995 (SI 1995/1928) takes effect. This Order consolidates and streamlines the old rules on SBO. The main changes introduced are tighter controls on record-keeping; dedicated lines for rendering plants processing SBO; a prohibition on the removal of brains and eyes so that the whole skull must be disposed of as SBO; and a prohibition on the removal of the spinal cord from the vertebral column except in slaughterhouses. The Bovine Offal (Prohibition) (England, Wales and Scotland) (Revocation) Regulations 1995 (SI 1995/1955) revoke the Bovine Offal (Prohibition) Regulations.
8 September 1995	Twentieth meeting of SEAC.
October 1995	Implementation of Mr A J Lebrecht's recommendation that the Veterinary Investigation Service should merge with the CVL as an enlarged Executive Agency.
4 October 1995	Emergency SEAC meeting (No. 21) to discuss a suspected case of CJD in a cattle farmer. Dr Tyrrell's last meeting as chairman.
9 October 1995	The Animals and Animal Products (Import and Export) Regulations (SI 1995/2428) revoke and replace the 1993 Regulations.
23 October 1995	Statement by SEAC on CJD in adolescents.
23 October 1995	SEAC press release about suspected CJD in a cattle farmer. Three previous CJD cases had already been confirmed in dairy farmers who had had BSE in their herds.
28 October 1995	Publication of two letters in The Lancet: 'Sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in a 16-year-old in the UK', by T C Britton et al.; and 'Sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in a 18-year-old in the UK', by D Bateman et al.
4 November 1995	Death of Maurice James Callaghan, Belfast, later identified as suffering from vCJD.
23 November 1995	Twenty-second meeting of SEAC, the first to be chaired by Sir John Pattison.
28 November 1995	Acting on advice from SEAC the Government announces its decision to suspend the use of bovine vertebral columns in the manufacture of mechanically recovered meet (MRM).
December 1995	Nature publishes an article by Dr Hope ('Mice and beef and brain diseases') on experiments with mice, PrP (ie, prion proteins) and TSEs.
13 December 1995	Letter about TSEs from Professor Pattison and Dr Will to Stephen Dorrell (Secretary of State for Health) and Douglas Hogg (Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food).
14 December 1995	November Progress Report placed in the library of the House of Commons.
15 December 1995	The Specified Bovine Offal (Amendment) Order 1995 (SI 1995/3246) and the Export of Goods (Control) (Amendment No. 2) Order 1995 (SI 1995/3299) take effect. The SBO (Amendment) Order prohibits the use of the bovine vertebral column in the manufacture of all MRM and in the production of some other products for human consumption. It also prohibits the use of bovine MRM made from the vertebral column in food for humans, requires all plants producing bovine MRM to register with MAFF, and prohibits the export of bovine MRM made from the vertebral column to other EU Member States. The Export of Goods Order prohibits the export of bovine MRM made from the vertebral column to third countries for human consumption.
1 January 1996	The Fresh Meat (Hygiene and Inspection) (Amendment) Regulations 1995 (SI 1995/3189) implement Commission Decision 95/287/EC. The Regulations impose, in meat-cutting premises, the requirement to remove specific lymph nodes from meat intended for export or consignment to a country in the European Economic Area and derived from bovines over 2.5 years old at slaughter.
5 January 1996	Twenty-third meeting of SEAC. Professor Almond's first meeting.
February 1996	MAFF publishes the booklet BSE and the Protection of Human Health.
1 February 1996	Twenty-fourth meeting of SEAC.
8 March 1996	CJD Surveillance Unit informs SEAC of its tentative identification of a new form of CJD in a group of young people: what becomes known as vCJD.
8 March 1996	Twenty-fifth meeting of SEAC.
11 March 1996	Twenty-sixth meeting of SEAC.
16 March 1996	Twenty-seventh meeting of SEAC. SEAC agrees a statement to Ministers advising that the CJD Surveillance Unit has identified 'a previously unrecognised and consistent disease pattern . . .'
17 March 1996 (Sunday)	Professor Pattison meets MAFF Permanent Secretary (Mr Richard Packer), CVO Keith Meldrum, CMO Sir Kenneth Calman and staff.
19-20 March 1996	Twenty-eighth meeting of SEAC, after which Professor Pattison takes a SEAC statement to a Cabinet meeting.
20 March 1996	Mr Dorrell announces to Parliament that the CJD Surveillance Unit has identified a previously unrecognised and consistent disease pattern. The Committee has concluded that although there is no direct evidence of a link, the most likely explanation is that these cases are linked to exposure to BSE before the introduction of the SBO ban in 1989.
20 March 1996	Mr Hogg announces the intention to introduce further control measures recommended by SEAC. These are that carcasses from cattle aged over 30 months should be deboned in specially licensed plants supervised by the MHS and the trimmings kept out of the food chain; and that the use of mammalian MBM in feed for all farm animals should be banned.
20 March 1996	Cut-off date for the period to be reviewed by the BSE Inquiry. Its terms of reference are: 'To establish and review the history of the emergence and identification of BSE and new variant CJD in the United Kingdom, and of the action taken in response to it up to 20 March 1996.'
21 March 1996	Letter from Dr Will of the CJD Surveillance Unit to neurologists/neuropathologists about the identification of vCJD.
24 March 1996	Statement by SEAC giving more detailed advice on its 20 March statement.
25 March 1996	Statements by Mr Dorrell and Sir Kenneth Calman on CJD and children.
27 March 1996	Commission Decision 96/293/EC prohibits the export from the UK of live bovine animals, their semen and embryos; meat of bovine animals slaughtered in the UK which are liable to enter the animal feed or human food chain, and materials destined for use in medicinal products, cosmetics or pharmaceutical products; and mammalian-derived MBM.
28 March 1996	The Government announces new BSE controls, the calf slaughter scheme and financial aid for the rendering industry.
29 March 1996	The Specified Bovine Material Order 1996 (SI 1996/963) replaces the SBO Order 1995 and introduces a requirement that the whole head of all cattle over six months, except for the tongue (provided it can be removed without contamination), must be treated in the same way as material designated as 'Specified Bovine Offal'. This requirement is introduced on the advice of SEAC.
29 March 1996	The Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (Amendment) Order 1996 (SI 1996/962) prohibits the sale or supply of any mammalian MBM, or any feedstuff known to include mammalian MBM, for the purpose of feeding to farm animals, including horses and farmed fish. The requirement is introduced on the advice of SEAC.
29 March 1996	The Beef (Emergency Control) Order 1996 (SI 1996/961) prohibits the sale for human consumption of any meat from bovine animals showing more than two permanent incisors. The prohibition is introduced as an emergency measure pending consideration of a more targeted approach to protecting human health.
3 April 1996	The Government announces changes to the Beef (Emergency Control) Order and the introduction of a 30 month slaughter scheme to ensure that all bovine animals over the age of 30 months at the time of slaughter do not enter the human food or animal feed chain. This scheme replaces the one for compulsory deboning recommended by SEAC.
4 April 1996	The Beef (Emergency Control) (Amendment) Order 1996 (SI 1996/1043) provides for the use of cattle identification documents to identify the age of animals even if they have more than two teeth.
13 April 1996	The Beef (Emergency Control) (Amendment) (No. 2) Order 1996 (SI 1996/1091) amends the Emergency Control Order to exempt from the restriction meat derived from animals slaughtered in certain third countries where no cases of BSE have been recorded.
19 April 1996	The Fertilisers (Mammalian Meat and Bone Meal) Regulations 1996 (SI 1996/1125) prohibit the use of MBM as, or in, fertiliser used on agricultural land. It is only permitted for use in private gardens, and within greenhouses and glass or plastic structures.
19 April 1996	Commission Regulation (EC) No. 716/96 sets out the terms under which the EU will provide aid, and the level of that aid, in respect of animals slaughtered under the 30 month slaughter scheme.
23 April 1996	The Fresh Meat (Hygiene and Inspection) (Amendment) Regulations 1996 (SI 1996/1148) permit slaughterhouses to participate in the schemes slaughtering cattle over 30 months and calves under ten days old. Normally slaughterhouses are permitted to slaughter only animals intended for human consumption. Permission to slaughter these 'scheme animals' is subject to strict separation from any meat intended for sale for human consumption.
29 April 1996	The Beef (Emergency Control) (Amendment) (No. 3) Order 1996 (SI 1996/1166) provides for a document which can demonstrate the age of cattle in which more than two permanent incisors have erupted and which are not issued with a national identification document. The latter are issued only to traded male cattle, and the amendment provides for documentary checks for female cattle.
1 May 1996	The Specified Bovine Materials (No. 2) Order 1996 (SI 1996/1192) amends and replaces the Specified Bovine Material Order 1996. Its effect is to amend the way in which existing controls apply to specified material from animals slaughtered under Commission Regulation 716/96. It requires specified bovine material (SBM) to be removed from carcasses and to be handled separately. The carcass meat from cattle slaughtered under the Commission Regulation has to be dyed a different colour from SBM. The Order also brings the existing rules on rendering and disposal into line with EU requirements.
1 May 1996