'Strong possibility' UK beef infected Irishman

There is a "strong possibility" that the man who has been diagnosed in Dublin with variant CJD was infected by beef imported from Britain, the Minister of State for Health told the Dáil.

Mr Brian Lenihan said that "it is a matter of probability that the current case of vCJD was contracted before the very strict controls were brought in by the Government in 1996".

He said it was impossible to trace the source, since the incubation period was from 10 to 20 years, but "it is a strong possibility" that the beef came from Britain, he told Labour's agriculture spokeswoman, Dr Mary Upton, who said that the UK was where the largest number of cases of BSE occurred at the time.

Mr Lenihan added that since the State was responsible for putting controls in place, "we have to draw that inference".

The Minister was answering private notice questions on the issue after confirmation that the 23-year-old man, admitted to hospital six weeks ago, had the fatal brain disease. It is the first indigenous case of vCJD.

Earlier the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, said that "there should be no need for public concern about the safety of Irish beef".

He told the House that the Food Safety Authority of Ireland "said it is confident that based on the current controls, consumers of Irish beef are not exposed to BSE infective agent".

Fine Gael leader Mr Enda Kenny had asked the Taoiseach what steps the Government was taking "and what inquiries it is making about this incident to ensure that public health fears, as a consequence of this most unfortunate case, can be properly allayed".

Mr Ahern said the Minister for Health had been assured that "the measures in place to protect public health, particularly in regard to the protection of blood supply, are in accordance with best international practice. There are no issues in regard to blood supply arising from this specific case, as the patient has never donated or received blood, and the cause of the infection is not linked to an operation." He stressed that Ireland had introduced controls before every other EU country. The CJD advisory board would continue to monitor all developments in the current case, and "the board will also step up its efforts to monitor developments internationally, and particularly in the UK".

Dr Upton asked whether a trust fund should be established to ensure that this patient, and any future patients who become victims of vCJD, would be looked after.

Mr Lenihan said "there are about one million cattle over seven years of age in the country, which is a substantial number. Therefore, the Deputy will appreciate that the implications of what she is proposing are far- reaching.

"As regards the care and treatment of the patient who has been so unfortunate in contracting this condition, the Department will entertain any reasonable request to ensure that he receives all possible care and attention."

Fine Gael's health spokesman, Dr Liam Twomey, said that since stringent controls were in place since 1996, "we can accept that there is no chance of any person under the age of eight getting this disease from an Irish product". However, he said "we still import foodstuffs from many jurisdictions where bonemeal is used in animal feed."