Global action over mad cow fears

LONDON, England -- The World Health Organisation and several European nations have announced fresh moves to address global concerns over mad cow disease.

The WHO expressed concern about what it called "exposure worldwide" to mad cow disease and its fatal human form, new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD).

The United Nations health agency said it would convene a major meeting of experts and officials from all regions on the neuro-degenerative diseases striking cattle and humans.

The meeting, to be held in the Swiss capital Geneva in late spring, was announced as France, Spain, and Germany, took steps to curb the disease on Friday.

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Dr. Maura Ricketts, of the WHO's animal and food-related public health risks division, said: "Our concern is that there was sufficient international trade in meat and bone meal and live cattle that there actually has been exposure worldwide already."

German butchers agreed to withdraw all products that might contain risky remains of cattle, sheep or goats, the country's health ministry said.

The Spanish government also approved a $300-million emergency plan aimed at stepping up controls and compensating industry losses linked to recent cases of mad cow disease or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).

And in France, the Paris prosecutor's office said it was considering bringing manslaughter charges against French, British and European officials for deaths linked to BSE.

German producers agreed to recall exported sausages and other foods made with meat possibly infected with mad cow disease, after a request by the European Union's head office.

EU Health and Consumer Affairs Commissioner David Byrne, who made the request, warned the EU Commission would take steps to force a recall if Germany did not act.

After discovering five cases of the brain-wasting disease in homegrown cattle in recent weeks, Germany on Wednesday announced a voluntary domestic recall on products that might contain bits of infected meat. But Byrne said that was not enough.

Spain's emergency action will be co-financed by the central government, regional governments, the European Union and beef producers.

French officials acted after families of victims of vCJD filed lawsuits against "persons unknown" for poisoning and manslaughter.

Investigating magistrates would not investigate possible poisoning charges, since they would not be able to prove an intent to kill, but would look into a possible charge of involuntary homicide, judicial sources said.

The plaintiffs have said they wanted formal charges brought against British and European officials for allowing Britain to export suspect animal feed after banning it at home in 1989 and against French officials for not taking action against it.

They charge that EU officials did nothing to stop the exports of suspect animal feed from Britain because they did not want to delay the 1992 opening of European borders in their drive for a single market in the European Union and that France went along with this to protect its own meat industry.

Several mad cow suits have been filed in Britain by families of victims, but they focus on charges of negligence rather than manslaughter, a charge more serious and more difficult to prove.

Since 1986, 180,000 BSE cases have been confirmed in British cattle, with 1,300 to 1,400 cases elsewhere in Europe -- all but several dozen cases in four countries (France, Ireland, Portugal and Switzerland), according to WHO.

Small numbers of cases have been reported in Canada, Argentina, Italy and Oman, but in each of these countries this was only in imported British bovine, it added.

In all, 87 cases of vCJD have been reported in Britain, three in France and one in Ireland, according to the agency.

"We know potentially contaminated materials were exported outside the European Community. We are trying to identify the countries that we should put our largest effort into," Ricketts said.

"The only way to know whether or not different countries are at risk is to ask them. ... These countries themselves have the information that is required to determine if they are at risk.

"We are concerned some countries which received materials do not have surveillance systems to detect the disease in animals or the human population," she added. "Countries of the world need to be developing surveillance systems for these diseases."

But Ricketts, a Canadian, conceded it would be difficult to trace exported beef and meat products, often repackaged or transformed before being re-exported with new labeling.

"It become very difficult, the trail grows cold," she said.

The Associated Press & Reuters contributed to this report.

Europe warns Germany over BSE
Switzerland acts to curb BSE
December 20, 2000
Summit considers BSE crackdown
December 4, 2000
EU proposes tougher feed controls
November 29, 2000

World Health Organisation
European Union
UK BSE Inquiry

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