The European Union summary report on surveillance for the presence of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) in 2017

This report presents the results of surveillance on transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) in bovine animals, sheep, goats, cervids and other animal species, as well as genotyping in sheep, carried out in 2017 in the European Union (EU) according to Regulation (EC) 999/2001, and in Iceland, Norway and Switzerland. In total, 1,312,714 cattle were tested by the 28 EU Member States (MSs) which is a decrease of 3% compared with 2016; 18,526 were tested by the three non-MSs. For the first time since bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) has been reported, no cases of classical BSE were reported in 2017. Six atypical BSE cases were reported by three different MSs: Spain 1 H-BSE/2 L-BSE; France 1 H-BSE/1 L-BSE; and Ireland 1 L-BSE. Over the year, 314,547 sheep and 117,268 goats were tested in the EU. In sheep, 933 cases of scrapie were reported: 839 classical and unknown (145 index cases) by eight MSs and 94 atypical (89 index cases) by 13 MSs. Fourteen ovine scrapie cases were reported by Iceland and Norway. Of all classical scrapie cases, 98.2% occurred in sheep with genotypes of susceptible groups. The genotyping of a random sample in 21 MSs showed that 26.5% of the genotyped sheep carried genotypes of the susceptible groups. In goats 567 cases of scrapie were reported: 558 classical (42 index cases) by seven MSs and nine atypical (seven index cases) by five MSs. In total, 3,585 cervids were tested for TSE by ten MSs, mostly by Romania. All results were negative. Eleven cases of chronic wasting disease (CWD) cases were reported in cervids by Norway: nine wild reindeer, one moose and, for the first time ever, one red deer. In total, 185 animals from five species other than cattle, small ruminants and cervids were tested by three MSs, with negative results.