TSE (BSE/Scrapie/CWD)
Transmissible Spongiform Enzephalopathie
Occurrence
BSE was first described in cattle in the UK in 1986. There are also atypical forms of BSE based on spontaneous mutations of the prion protein. A new variant of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans was first diagnosed in 1996. Today, transmission of BSE to humans is thought to be caused by food.
Scrapie is a prion disease in sheep and goats that has been known for centuries in Europe and is not transmissible to humans. Atypical scrapie is a single-animal disease whose more precise nature is still being researched, but which also occurs in countries free of classical scrapie.
CWD (chronic wasting disease) is a brain disease occurring in North America in various deer and elk species, the significance of which to humans is not yet clear. In 2016, 5 CWD cases were detected in Norway and thus for the first time in Europe, since then CWD cases have also occurred in Finland and Sweden.
Situation in Austria
In 2025, no cases of BSE or scrapie were diagnosed in Austria. Since May 2012, Austria has been classified by the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) as a country with a ‘negligible risk of BSE’. This status was reaffirmed in May 2025. Since 18 November 2014, Austria has held the status of ‘negligible risk for classical scrapie’.
Technical information
In 2025, cattle aged 48 months or over that had died or been killed in Austria were required to be tested for BSE if they had been born in Austria, the EU or the United Kingdom (including Northern Ireland), provided that the movement of the cattle from the United Kingdom (excluding Northern Ireland) to the EU had taken place by 31 December 2020. Cattle that were subject to emergency or special slaughter, or that were killed due to a slaughter ban imposed because of illness, had to be tested for BSE from the age of 24 months. Cattle from Bulgaria and Romania (no revised monitoring programme), as well as from Switzerland and third countries such as the United Kingdom (excluding Northern Ireland) had to be tested from the age of 30 months for routine slaughter or 24 months for all other categories, provided that the movement of the cattle from the United Kingdom (excluding Northern Ireland) to the EU took place on or after 1 January 2021. Testing of healthy cattle aged 20 months or older was possible at the expense of the person authorised to dispose of the animals. In 2025, three animals were sent for testing.
As part of a risk-based sampling programme, both dead/euthanised and slaughtered sheep and goats aged 18 months and over were tested for scrapie.
On 18 January 2017, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) published a comprehensive scientific opinion entitled ‘Chronic wasting disease (CWD) in cervids’.
In accordance with this opinion, a three-year CWD surveillance programme was established from 1 September 2017 in eight European countries (Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland and Sweden), a three-year CWD surveillance programme was established, with Sweden having applied for an extension of the programme until 28 February 2022. Based on the data from this surveillance programme, the EFSA produced a revised and updated scientific opinion, which was published on 17 April 2023.
Contact
Institut für veterinärmedizinische Untersuchungen Mödling
- vetmed.moedling@ages.at
- +43 50 555 38112
-
Robert Koch-Gasse 17
2340 Mödling
Last updated: 25.06.2026
automatically translated