Annual Report of the Scientific Network on BSE‐TSE 2018

The EFSA Scientific Network on bovine spongiform encephalopathies and other transmissiblespongiform encephalopathies (BSE-TSE) held its 13th meeting on 15-16 October 2018 in Parma. Themeeting served as an opportunity to exchange scientific information on BSE-TSE related issues amongEU Member States, countries from the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), EFSA, the EuropeanCommission andad hocparticipants. In this occasion,ad hocrepresentation included the WorldAnimal Health Organisation (OIE), the Department of Food Safety, Nutrition and Veterinary PublicHealth of the Istituto Superiore di Sanità (Italy), and the Animal and Plant Health Agency, UK. Thetopics discussed included: an update on BSE-TSE-related activities at national and international leveland results from recent TSE-related research projects and risk assessments in several EU countries. Inaddition, the Network discussed: updates on the situation of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) inNorway; state of play of CWD surveillance in six member states; the zoonotic potential of TSEs,ongoing EFSA, OIE and EC activities on this area, the new TSE EURL, the preliminary results of the2017 EU TSE summary report, and the update on recent published research including came priondisease, analyses of BSE surveillance data and the impact of changes in SRM on BSE infectivity inedible tissues (small ruminants and cattle).