EU Says No Evidence Yet of BSE Risk for Goats
Date: 29-Nov-04
Country: BELGIUM
During routine tests, French experts found a case of scrapie in a goat's brain. Scrapie is a brain-wasting disease from the same family as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).
But on further analysis, the disease was found to be a different strain to scrapie, raising fears that it might be BSE. France then sent the data to Brussels for further tests.
"(EU scientists) concluded that the data available on a suspected case of BSE in a goat was incomplete, preventing a definitive interpretation at this time," the Commission said.
"After evaluating the scientific evidence, the scientists recommended additional lines of investigation to be pursued," it said in a statement, adding that BSE had never -- to date -- been found in a goat under natural conditions.
Data from these investigations, including the results of tests conducted on mice since the goat was slaughtered in France in October 2002, would be ready within two months, it said.
Mad cow disease was first identified in Britain in 1986.
Scientists say there is a strong link between humans eating tainted meat and the risk of getting the brain-wasting disease.
More than 100 people have died so far in Europe from the human form of mad cow disease, mostly in Britain.
The EU, which tightened food safety laws following a BSE scare in the 1990s, has banned the use of animal parts in feed and also removed high risk material such as spinal cord, intestines and brain from the food and feed chain.
