Volume 3: The Early Years, 1986-88
6. Notification of the ruminant feed ban to other countries
The ruminant feed ban is introduced

6.20 On 14 June 1988 the Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Order 1988 was made. Article 7 of the Order, which introduced a ruminant feed ban, came into force on 18 July 1988. The effect of the Order is described in detail in Chapter 4.

6.21 On 14 July 1988 Mr Cruickshank wrote to agricultural attachés at British Embassies in the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, France, the Republic of Ireland, Italy, Spain and Portugal, Australia, New Zealand and the USA to describe a number of measures which had been taken recently by the Government in relation to BSE. Mr Cruickshank's letter included the following:

In assessing the cases of BSE which have occurred in Great Britain (679 on 552 premises at 8 July) it is not really accurate to refer to 'disease spread', at least in the conventional sense. There is in fact no evidence of cattle to cattle transmission. Rather it appears to be a 'single source epidemic'. That source is most probably animal protein derived from ruminants which has been fed to cattle. More specifically it seems it could have been sheep material from scrapie-affected animals. If this is shown to be the case, then the agent which causes scrapie has jumped the species barrier to cause BSE in cattle. However as you will appreciate this is not something we are highlighting. The disease has a long incubation period and it seems probable that the animals going down now received the infective dose some years ago. It is still largely confined to a single animal in a herd. ¹

6.22 Mr Cruickshank's letter referred to the introduction of the ruminant feed ban as follows:

In view of the circumstantial evidence about the cause of the disease, legislation (The Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Order 1988) has been introduced to prohibit from 18 July the use of animal protein derived from ruminants in feed for ruminants. You will see from the Order (copy attached) that the prohibition ends on 31 December this year. The plan in the meantime is that all the rendering plants in Great Britain which produce meat and bone meal will be visited and detailed investigations undertaken to determine whether or not the process, particularly the time/temperature combinations used, is sufficient to destroy the agent. The legislation will be reviewed in the light of results. ²

6.23 On 21 July 1988 the OIE issued the final report of its General Session, which had been held from 16 to 20 May 1988. In paragraph 166 the report stated:

A new disease, designated 'bovine spongiform encephalopathy', was observed in Great Britain. This disease has a long incubation period. Research is being carried out to identify the disease agent, about which little is known at present. ³

The OIE report made no mention of MBM as the vector for BSE.