Written question asked by Ralph Howell (Conservative), in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 10 December 1996. It was answered by Lord Horam (Conservative) on Tuesday, 10 December 1996 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Dept of Health

Question: Pursuant to his Answer of 4th of December, Official Report column 721W, if he will list the unqualified evidence linking BSE and CJD assessed by his Department (a) before and (b) since 25th March.

Answer: Sir Ralph Howell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 4 December, Official Report, columns 720-21, if he will list the unqualified evidence linking BSE and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease assessed by his Department (a) before and (b) since 25 March; and if he will make a statement. [8341] Mr. Horam: There is no unqualified evidence linking bovine spongiform encephalopathy and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. The Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee's advice has been drawn up on the basis of the balance of probabilities considering all the various evidence available. Their view is that a connection between exposure to BSE and new variant CJD is likely but not conclusively established.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 8341; 287 c153W
Session: 1996-97
Subjects: Cattle Diseases Medicine Research BSE CJD Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee Transmissible encephalopathies