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Independent report stokes old BSE fears

A study by independent scientists of the risk of the spread of BSE (bovine spongiform encephalitis) which has been presented to the European Commission has concluded that officially 'BSE free countries' such as Germany, Spain and Italy are likely to be infected. It goes on to ...

A study by independent scientists of the risk of the spread of BSE (bovine spongiform encephalitis) which has been presented to the European Commission has concluded that officially 'BSE free countries' such as Germany, Spain and Italy are likely to be infected. It goes on to say that infection 'cannot be excluded' in six other EU countries as well as in countries outside the Union, such as Canada, the USA and Australia. The report has been conducted over two years and has taken in factors such as the conditions of cattle trading, spread of meat and bone meal from the UK and import controls. It looked at ways in which the spread of the disease could be monitored in cattle and concluded that so far only passive monitoring has been taking place, which it feels to be insufficient. Passive monitoring refers to farmers and other farm workers only reporting those cattle that are sick. The report concluded that this would only detect a third of cases and advocated 'active' monitoring. All Member States of the European Union will be obliged to carry out 'active' monitoring from 2001, but no such obligation exists for non-EU countries. Finally the report pointed out that, despite the European Commission banning the feeding to cattle of cattle parts in 1994, this may be insufficient to have prevented the circulation of cattle remains contaminating feed mills. It also stated that insufficient pressure cooking of the feed would increase the risk of spreading BSE.