EFSA BIOHAZ Panel 2017, Chronic wasting disease (CWD) in cervids (EFSA Journal 15(1):4667)

Key facts

• The opinion is by the EFSA Panel on Biological Hazards, was first published on 18 January 2017 in EFSA Journal volume 15 issue 1, article e04667, DOI 10.2903/j.efsa.2017.4667, and is open access under CC BY-ND.
• The Commission asked EFSA to recommend surveillance of cervids for eight countries (Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Sweden), to update the public health assessment since the 2011 EFSA/ECDC opinion, and to propose risk-based measures against introduction and spread. The mandate dates from May 2016.
• The proposed surveillance runs for three years with separate designs for farmed and for wild or semi-domesticated cervids: first random selection of areas or farms, then targeted sampling of high-risk animals such as those found dead, ill or unfit for consumption, with a review of the design after one year and genotyping and archiving of positives.
• On human health, the opinion says no experimental model fully captures zoonotic potential so risk cannot be measured directly, and the evidence does not show an absolute species barrier.
• It notes that CWD prions occur in skeletal muscle and other edible tissues, so people in affected areas could be exposed through food, while epidemiological studies up to then found no association between sporadic CJD and CWD exposure.
• It judges movement of live cervids to be the most likely route of introduction into the EU and the use of natural cervid urine as hunting lures to add risk; suggested measures include fewer movements, hunter awareness, less environmental contamination and contingency plans such as quarantine.
• A follow-up EFSA opinion (CWD II, 17 January 2018) refers back to this one as covering terms of reference 1 to 3, calls the 2017 programme the replacement for the earlier EU-wide survey, and adds advice to test two tissues (obex and a lymphoid tissue) with trained sample collectors.
• Regulation (EU) 2017/1972 of 30 October 2017 took up the proposed three-year two-stage programme, with some differences, for six Member States (Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Sweden), for 1 January 2018 to 31 December 2020. Norway and Iceland were in the EFSA mandate but are not covered by the act.

Timeline

1. 2016Norway notifies the first European CWD case, a wild reindeer; a wild moose follows in May.
2. 2016Commission mandate to EFSA on CWD surveillance in cervids.
3. 2017Opinion published on 18 January 2017.
4. 2017Regulation (EU) 2017/1972 adopted on 30 October 2017, implementing a three-year programme.
5. 2018Follow-up opinion CWD II published (17 January 2018).