European governments blamed for BSE crisis

Mad cow disease is spreading throughout Europe

LONDON, England -- Mad cow disease spread throughout Europe several years ago and continental government blindness at the time may mean radical measures are now needed to fight the disease, UK scientists said.

Scientists had warned other European governments that the brain-wasting disease could spread beyond the boundaries of Britain, said Stephen Dealler, a consultant microbiologist who has been working on BSE since 1988.

Other countries were now finding cases of mad cow disease because they had only just started to look for them, he said.

He added that Europe should take advantage of lessons learned by Britain to combat bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and should not repeat the mistakes politicians made during earlier campaigns to reassure the public.

"We would have expected cows to start going down with the disease in France, Belgium and Holland in about 1993-94 and really not many appeared. Everybody then was saying 'now that's very odd,"' said Dealler.

"So now, the cows we didn't see in 1993-94 have now been fed to further cows. ... That's why the numbers have risen to such a degree and will continue to rise, because one cow going down with symptoms, or maybe even without symptoms, will infect a large number further on," he said on Monday.

"If you want to find these cases, you'll find them when you look for them," Dealler said.

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"The farmers realise that they slaughter all your cattle and you don't get much money for it. Then the last thing you want to do is go around telling everybody ... farmers in Europe have realised its not a desirable disease to have and so there has been a tendency not to find cases."

Consumer fears aroused by Europe's latest mad cow crisis are rippling out across the region from France, where beef sales have been almost halved since major supermarkets said last month they might have sold potentially tainted meat.

Germany and Spain have been the latest to find cases of BSE, in almost a repeat of Britain's early experience of mad cow disease, which has been linked to a deadly human equivalent.

"Random testing was resisted by our government for a long time and for similar reasons it may have been resisted in Europe," said Iain McGill, who worked for the UK agriculture ministry at the height of Britain's BSE crisis.

"But now it (random testing) is implemented on a Europe-wide basis, that's very important because that will actually give us a good indication of what the true incidence is," said McGill, now director of the independent Prion Interest Group.

Scientists said the more testing was carried out, the more cases would be found. They called on governments to go further and take more radical measures to halt the spread of BSE.

"The main thing Europe needs to do on a Europe-wide basis is to de-intensify the beef and dairy industries," he said, referring to intensive farming which encourages productivity sometimes at the expense of environmental and health protection.

He said Europe should also ensure that feed from crushed animal carcasses does not slip back into the cattle food chain.

In worst-hit Britain, such feed, used for chickens and sheep, did slip back into troughs for cattle, he added.

"I hope it doesn't degenerate into a slanging war," McGill said. "Britain still has the highest level of cases, but they are decreasing while those in Europe increase. (But) we are all in it together from now on as far as I can see."

Reuters contributed to this report.

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Germany calls for action over BSE
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Mixed messages as Germany reacts to BSE fears
November 24, 2000
Britain to check French beef
November 23, 2000
Switzerland bans cattle imports
November 23, 2000
Scientists make mad cow test breakthrough
November 22, 2000
UK sets French beef deadline
November 22, 2000
Mad cow disease strikes Spain
November 23, 2000

The BSE Inquiry Homepage
The Prion Interest Group
UK MInistry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food

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