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| French BSE figures 'underestimated'LONDON, England -- About 100 French cows infected with BSE will have been slaughtered for human consumption this year, according to a British scientist. Of these animals, 52 would have been killed within a year of displaying the first signs of BSE, says Dr Christl Donnelly, from Imperial College, London. By comparison, she says the estimated number of infected animals slaughtered for human food this year in Britain within 12 months of showing symptoms is 1.2. Dr Donnelly, who reported her findings in the journal Nature, said: "The relative potential risks posed by the consumption of British and French beef warrant re-examination." She argues that the official BSE figures from France have probably been greatly under-estimated. She analysed incidence data from the French Ministry of Agriculture and combined this with information from the UK to get a realistic picture of the size and course of the BSE epidemic in France. Her conclusion was that since mid-1987, about 7,300 French cattle had been infected with the disease.
Official reports suggested that 49 infected French animals were slaughtered for human consumption this year, said Dr Donnelly. But taking into account unreported cases the total rises to 100. Dr Donnelly's analysis indicates that cannibalistic feeding practices banned in Britain since 1988 have helped fuel France's BSE crisis. An upsurge in infection risk between 1991 and 1996 reflected the recycling of infectious material within the French feed industry, she said. More cows became infected as they were fed meat and bonemeal feed containing contaminated tissue from other cattle. Although high risk brain and spinal cord material was banned from French cattle feed in mid-1996, it was too early yet to judge if this had been effective. Dr Donnelly added: "The risk of BSE entering the food chain from British beef has been markedly reduced now that cattle slaughtered for consumption are restricted to those under 30 months old, but more late-stage infected animals are likely to have been slaughtered for meat this year in France, where no age restriction for slaughter has been imposed." Dr Donnelly used a back-calculation analysis of the UK BSE epidemic to obtain reliable parameters for estimating the course of the disease in France. Britain's BSE problem dwarfs that of France. Since 1988, 177,490 infections of British animals have been officially reported, but experts estimate the true figure to be as high as 900,000. However the risk to human health is said to have been reduced virtually to zero in Britain by the 30-month rule and other controls. Imported meat is also subject to the 30-month restriction. Dr Donnelly said if the legislation was fully enforced there would be almost no risk from French beef consumed in the UK. "Even if this legislation were only 75 percent enforced, then the risk posed by British and French steaks sold in the United Kingdom would be comparable," she wrote in Nature. In a letter to Nature, Sir John Krebs, chairman of the Food Standards Agency, said Dr Donnelly's research suggested that despite the UK having 10 times as many cases of BSE as France, the risk of eating meat from a French animal close to developing symptoms was much higher. Sir John said this conclusion depended on a number of uncertain assumptions that BSE followed similar patterns in France as in Britain. Even accepting her evidence, the study indicated there was "no risk case for a ban on beef imports from France to the United Kingdom". Sir John pointed out that the research focused on carcass meat. But he added: "Comparable if not greater risks to UK consumers could arise from the import of meat products (such as pates and salamis) which usually contain beef, as it is difficult to ascertain the age and provenance of any cattle-derived contents." He said new European Commission measures being brought in next year should significantly protect consumers from BSE in the future. These included a complete ban on feeding any livestock mammalian meat and bonemeal, and the introduction of a Europe-wide 30-month rule. RELATED STORIES: Study finds more French BSE cases RELATED SITES: Nature
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