Spain protests add to Europe BSE woes

MADRID, Spain -- Cattle farmers have brought meat production in Spain to a virtual halt with mass protests to demand more compensation for losses caused by BSE.

Meanwhile, beef sales across Europe are continuing to collapse as reports of new cases of BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) scare consumers.

Belgium also said on Monday it had found two new cases of BSE, or mad cow disease, after two weeks of testing cattle over 30 months old.

And in Italy, the government and meat industry tried to calm public fears following disclosure of the country's first suspected case of mad cow disease in seven years.

ALSO Beef sales slump after EU BSE scare

In Spain, one farming group reported two arrests as thousands of protesters took to the streets in 11 of the country's 17 regions on Monday, blocking slaughterhouses and gathering outside local government buildings.

Demonstrations have halted meat production indefinitely in the southern provinces of Seville, Huelva, Cadiz and Cordoba and towns and cities in the central regions Castille-La Mancha and Castille-Leon and northern Aragon, state radio reported.

Protesters temporarily paralysed Mercamadrid, the capital's wholesale food market, but the blockade was lifted after the market agreed to discuss farmers' demands.

IN-DEPTH Mad cow disease: Counting the cost   •  The cross-species killer   •  What's off the menu?   •  EU beef consumption   •  BSE cases in Europe   •  Geographical BSE risk   •  One family's nightmare   •  Timeline: Crisis unfolds   •  Recent news   •  Audio/video archive   •  Message board   •  Related sites

Agricultural confederation COAG, one of five groups co-ordinating the blockades, said further action was planned across Spain.

A spate of cases of BSE are being reported across Europe. On Monday, the Belgian Federal Agency for Food Safety said it carried out 7,548 tests. After the first round of testing, 24 samples were suspected of contamination and reanalysed with the result that two cattle tested positive.

The agency said all carcasses suspected of carrying mad cow had been destroyed and that no animal from the same breeding source as the infected cattle had been sent for slaughter.

Belgium had previously confirmed 19 cases of mad cow disease.

The Italian health ministry has confirmed that it had detected what could be the first case of BSE in the country since 1994, in the village of Pontevico in the northern Lombardy region.

In Britain, the Food Standards Agency said it would carry out more research to see whether BSE could be transmitted to humans through milk.

Britain was the first European country to report the brain wasting disease and by far the worst hit with about 80 deaths from the human form of BSE, new-variant Creutzfeld-Jakob Disease.

Previous tests on mice appeared to show that milk was safe, but a leading geneticist said on Monday the research was flawed and needed to be repeated on healthy calves.

In Austria, previously free of BSE, officials were awaiting the results of tests into what could be the first case within its borders.

The tests were part of obligatory BSE checks on all cattle over 30 months old introduced recently by the European Union.

Reuters contributed to this report.

BSE spread reaches Austria
January 14, 2001
Italy finds first suspected BSE case
January 14, 2001

Spanish Agriculture - Government
European Union
The UK's BSE Inquiry

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.