BSE test results surprise experts

BRUSSELS, Belgium -- New testing for mad cow disease in Belgium has revealed a suspected infection rate five times higher than expected.

After new tests on meat from cattle aged over 30 months, the Belgian Food Safety Agency said on Tuesday that it had detected 14 suspected cases of the disorder indicating that one in every 200 cows was infected.

Meanwhile, France's beef tests have yielded a possible case of the deadly illness in an animal born after 1996, when tougher controls were imposed to try to halt its spread, an official said on Tuesday.

The discovery, if confirmed, could lend support to the theory that animal feed is not the only means of transmitting mad cow disease and might mean that the epidemic may be around for much longer than believed until now.

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Catherine Geslain-Laneelle, general director of food at the French farm ministry, said the new testing scheme had uncovered a positive case of mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), in an animal born in March 1998.

A sample had been sent to a laboratory operated by the AFSSA food safety agency in Lyon for confirmation and the animal's herd had been placed under supervision, Geslain-Laneelle said.

"For the moment we are not drawing any conclusions," she said, adding that she expected to have a final confirmation from Lyon within seven days.

The discovery of a possible case of BSE in an animal born after 1996 is the second such finding in France.

In Belgium authorities were disturbed by the preliminary results of testing undertaken as part of European Union measures to deal with the mad cow crisis.

"Before we started this testing, the scientists here in Belgium thought that one case in 1,000 would be positive," a spokeswoman for the Health Ministry said.

A second round of testing on three of the animals showed a negative result. All the findings are subject to a full three rounds of tests before final confirmation.

The final results are expected by Thursday, the spokeswoman said.

If the cases are confirmed, the government would have to talk with scientists to determine why the rate of infection was higher than had been thought, the spokeswoman said.

Only 19 cases of mad cow disease have previously been confirmed in Belgium.

Scientists believe eating products from animals infected with BSE causes variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD), the fatal, brain-wasting human form of mad cow disease.

At least 80 people in Britain and two in France have died from vCJD. Meanwhile, the reach of mad cow disease is extending into northern Europe with Denmark detecting a new case.

"The Danish test was positive. It has now been sent to England, as part of the normal routine, for verification and a definite answer," a Danish food and agriculture ministry spokesman said.

It is the third case of BSE found in Denmark in the past decade. BSE fears in Europe have now extended to Sweden despite no cases being recorded there.

Many Swedes intend to eat less meat, following the example of Prime Minister Goran Persson who recently voiced doubts about a carnivorous diet, an opinion poll published on Tuesday suggested.

A Gallup poll of 1,000 Swedes in the tabloid Expressen showed that 23 percent of Swedes planned to eat less beef and 14 percent would eat less pigmeat.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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World Health Organisation - BSE and vCJD fact sheets
Human BSE Foundation
European Union
French Government directory
Belgian Federal Government

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