The watchword is caution when it comes to discovering a BSE test that can be done on a live animal.
The recent announcement of a live test from a Calgary company has some scientists warning against too much optimism.
“There is a lot of research going on around the world and some projects in Canada. Our policy is to only look at commercial tests that have been validated in the European Union and have some international recognition,” said Shane Renwick, director of the animal health laboratory service with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
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Live animal tests take time to prove they actually work because of the lengthy incubation period for the disease and the difficulty in finding BSE markers in blood or urine. The breakthrough may come through scrapie research because it shares certain elements with BSE.
“The feeling is we haven’t got something that is right around the corner,” said Renwick.
Markus Moser, chief executive of Prionics AG, a biotechnology company working on BSE diagnostic tests in Switerzland, said the Canadian company’s live test is not specific to BSE.
Prionics is looking at live tests and does not feel the recent Vacci-Test Corp. announcement of an effective live test was groundbreaking because other companies are also looking at using the presence of the 14-3-3 protein as a marker of disease. The protein appears in brain cells when there is degeneration or damage.
“This is nothing new. It was detected in the late 1980s when people discovered this protein,” said Moser.
He believes the risk of false positives is too high and the test may not be specific enough. Moser said there are two ways to develop live tests for BSE.
One is to look for the infectious prion in the blood or urine, but no one knows if it can be found in the fluid of infected animals, he said.
The other approach is similar to that of the Canadian company using 14-3-3 proteins.
Prionics is working on a live test but is staying Moser declined to discuss its progress.
