Volume 3: The Early Years, 1986-88
3. Epidemiology
Feed identified as a common factor

3.48 On 8 April 1988 Mr Rees chaired a meeting of MAFF officials and representatives from UKASTA, GAFTA and UKRA. The industry representatives were brought up to date with the results of the Task Force investigations. They were told that the detection of SAFs in the brains of affected cattle had pointed to BSE being a scrapie-like condition which had crossed from sheep to cattle. Feed had been identified as a common factor and the most likely cause of the disease. An increase in the amount of scrapie-infected material rendered down to MBM and incorporated in cattle feed was a suspected culprit. The UKASTA representatives again offered to help in attempting to trace the sources of feed supplied to affected herds. ¹

3.49 On 13 April Mr Wilesmith sent to Miss Nelson, of UKASTA, details of the feedstuffs that had been used in the case of 50 affected herds, together with the compounder or supplier, in the hope that it would prove possible to identify the source and inclusion rates for at least a proportion of these feedstuffs. ²

3.50 Mr Wilesmith subsequently discovered that in the case of 20 of the herdsthe suppliers had been Cooperatives who were members of the Federation of Agricultural Cooperatives (FAC) and not of UKASTA. ³ So far as 12 of the herds were concerned, Dr Brian Cooke of Dalgety Agriculture Ltd, the supplier of the feed, was optimistic that the company's mill records would enable the sources of the feedstuffs to be identified. Requests for similar assistance were made to the other three companies which, with Dalgety, were on the UKASTA scientific committee - BOCM Silcock Ltd, J Bibby Agricultural Ltd and Pauls Agriculture Ltd. ⁴

3.51 On 14 April 1988 the Minister of Agriculture, Mr John MacGregor, held a meeting at which two other MAFF Ministers, Mr John Gummer and Mr Donald Thompson, were present, together with Mr Andrews, Mr Edward Smith, Mr Meldrum, Mr Wilesmith and other MAFF officials. Mr Meldrum reported on the current state of the feedstuffs investigation, saying that while it was too early for any definitive results, it was evident that in the early 1980s a change in production processes had occurred. They hoped to have a further report in the next two or three weeks.