EU To Examine France, Cyprus Scrapie Cases for BSE
Date: 07-Mar-06
Country: BELGIUM
The sheep, two in France and one in Cyprus, have already been tested for scrapie - similar to BSE, or mad cow disease, and known to exist in sheep for more than 100 years.
Two rounds of tests are usually considered sufficient to exclude BSE. So far, the second test has been unable to do this.
The EU's main centre for animal disease testing, based in Britain, is now examining the French and Cypriot checks. Known as the Community Reference Laboratory (CRL), it should report back to EU experts who are due to meet on Tuesday and Wednesday.
"France and Cyprus have submitted their tests to the CRL," one European Commission official told reporters. "The CRL will give its assessment of the second test ... and discuss whether it is necessary to send it to a third level of tests."
A third series of tests would involve a lengthy period of time, and take possibly as long as two years to complete.
France's agriculture ministry, which immediately quarantined the two farms concerned, said the infection so far appeared to be different to the usual strain of scrapie found in sheep.
France went through a similar ordeal early in 2005, when mad cow disease was confirmed in a goat that had been slaughtered three years earlier. On that occasion, scientists initially thought that the animal was suffering from scrapie.
No case of BSE has ever been confirmed as naturally occurring in sheep, but there are fears that some sheep diagnosed as having scrapie - not known to be harmful to humans - might be carrying the brain-wasting affliction.
Scrapie belongs to a family of diseases known as TSEs (Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy) and characterised by a degeneration of brain tissue giving a sponge-like appearance.
The group includes Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease in humans and BSE in cattle. These fatal diseases, caused by misshapen nervous system proteins called prions, gradually destroy the brain.
Since the late 1990s, the EU has extensively monitored and checked for scrapie and BSE in cattle, sheep and goats. Given the widespread testing, isolated cases of BSE may be found but this should not indicate a major problem, EU officials say.
