Quantitative risk assessment of BSE transmission if insects are reared on residual streams containing animal proteins
- 1Wageningen Bioveterinary Research, Wageningen University & Research
- 2Wageningen Food Safety Research, Wageningen University & Research
Abstract
Insect production can play an important role in the bioconversion of residual streams from agri-food production into valuable nutrients for feed and food and as such advance the transition from a linear to a circular food production system. However, under current EU legislation, insect rearing on residual streams containing animal proteins is not allowed because of the risk of animal disease transmission including bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). In this study, a quantitative risk model was used to assess the BSE risk. The model estimates the expected exposure of cattle to BSE infectivity, expressed in cattle oral ID ₅₀ (CoID ₅₀ ), and the corresponding probability that this will result in at least one new BSE infection when a single BSE-infected cow escapes detection. The model was parameterized for three residual streams: former food from supermarkets (SM), kitchen food scraps from consumer households (KF), and category 2 meat meal from rendering (MM); and two insect species: yellow mealworm ( Tenebrio molitor ) (YMW) and black soldier fly ( Hermetia illucens ) larvae (BSFL). Exposure routes considered were cross-contamination of ruminant feed, grassland fertilized with pig or poultry manure or frass, and calf milk replacer. The main uncertainty in the model was the carry-over of prions from substrate to insects. A worst-case approach was used, assuming no inactivation of prions during insect rearing. Similar conservative estimates were used for other parameters describing presence and persistence of prions when no data were available. Model results indicate that the BSE infectivity to which cattle are exposed depends both on the substrate and the insect species, but was very low for all combinations assessed with a maximum median overall exposure of 5.2 × 10 ⁻⁶ CoID ₅₀ for YMW reared on KF, corresponding to a probability of at least one new BSE infection of 3.6 × 10 ⁻⁶ , implying that < 1 out of 100,000 slaughtered BSE-infected cows will result in new BSE infections. We therefore conclude that insect rearing on residual streams is unlikely to result in the emergence of a new BSE epidemic.
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BibTeX
@article{vos2026quantitative,
title = {{Quantitative risk assessment of BSE transmission if insects are reared on residual streams containing animal proteins}},
author = {C. J. de Vos and A. F. G. Antonis and M. J. Appel and E. F. Hoek-van den Hil},
journal = {Frontiers in Microbiology},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3389/fmicb.2026.1943428},
url = {https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2026.1943428/full},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Quantitative risk assessment of BSE transmission if insects are reared on residual streams containing animal proteins
AU - C. J. de Vos
AU - A. F. G. Antonis
AU - M. J. Appel
AU - E. F. Hoek-van den Hil
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/23
JO - Frontiers in Microbiology
DO - 10.3389/fmicb.2026.1943428
UR - https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2026.1943428/full
AB - Insect production can play an important role in the bioconversion of residual streams from agri-food production into valuable nutrients for feed and food and as such advance the transition from a linear to a circular food production system. However, under current EU legislation, insect rearing on residual streams containing animal proteins is not allowed because of the risk of animal disease transmission including bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). In this study, a quantitative risk model was used to assess the BSE risk. The model estimates the expected exposure of cattle to BSE infectivity, expressed in cattle oral ID ₅₀ (CoID ₅₀ ), and the corresponding probability that this will result in at least one new BSE infection when a single BSE-infected cow escapes detection. The model was parameterized for three residual streams: former food from supermarkets (SM), kitchen food scraps from consumer households (KF), and category 2 meat meal from rendering (MM); and two insect species: yellow mealworm ( Tenebrio molitor ) (YMW) and black soldier fly ( Hermetia illucens ) larvae (BSFL). Exposure routes considered were cross-contamination of ruminant feed, grassland fertilized with pig or poultry manure or frass, and calf milk replacer. The main uncertainty in the model was the carry-over of prions from substrate to insects. A worst-case approach was used, assuming no inactivation of prions during insect rearing. Similar conservative estimates were used for other parameters describing presence and persistence of prions when no data were available. Model results indicate that the BSE infectivity to which cattle are exposed depends both on the substrate and the insect species, but was very low for all combinations assessed with a maximum median overall exposure of 5.2 × 10 ⁻⁶ CoID ₅₀ for YMW reared on KF, corresponding to a probability of at least one new BSE infection of 3.6 × 10 ⁻⁶ , implying that < 1 out of 100,000 slaughtered BSE-infected cows will result in new BSE infections. We therefore conclude that insect rearing on residual streams is unlikely to result in the emergence of a new BSE epidemic.
SN - 1664-302X
ER -