The BIOHAZ Panel based its assessment on the following points:

• The European Commission and Member States have so far carried out over 93,000 tests on goats since the first case was identified and none have been found positive for BSE****.
• BSE has been found in only one goat (in France) and none of the other goats in the herd concerned had the disease. A second suspected case from another herd in the UK is undergoing additional laboratory tests for BSE and these results will be completed in 2 years’ time
• The only goat confirmed as having the disease was born before the 2001 feed ban on Meat and Bone Meal (MBM). MBM is thought to be the most likely route of BSE infection to cattle. Since the 2001 ban, very few goats, if any, would have had access to MBM.
• The UK goat population was traditionally fed with MBM before it was banned in the EU and, with the exception of a case of Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy (TSE) still to be confirmed, there is no evidence of any goat having BSE in the UK
• Specified Risk Materials (SRM)*****, such as brain and spinal cord, have been and continue to be removed from all goats over the age of 12 months since 2001. This risk management measure eliminates those parts of the animal which would be the most highly infectious, if an animal were to have BSE. Current SRM measures for goats do not however reduce the risk to the same extent as for cattle in the case of an infected animal.

EFSA’s BIOHAZ Panel further concluded that given the paucity of data, it would be necessary to carry out experimental research in order to assess the infectivity and development of BSE in goats. Depending on availability of funding, this research could take up to 3-4 years to complete. In addition, the Panel recommended that the European Commission conduct increased surveillance of the goat population with respect to BSE and in collaboration with Member States for a further 6 months in order to confirm the initial results obtained thus far with regard to BSE prevalence.

Should another case or cases be found, EFSA might then have to re-evaluate its risk assessment scenarios for BSE in goats without delay. The occurrence of a further case could have an impact on safety related to the consumption of both goat meat and goat meat products and, ultimately, on human health.

Various risk scenarios were considered by the Panel. If experimental data on BSE in goats were to confirm that, as for scrapie, the infectious agent is distributed in the goat in many of its tissues, and if the surveillance indicates in future that BSE prevalence in the goat population is higher than presently considered, then there could be a potential for a considerable adverse impact on public health.