Italy finds first suspected BSE case


Some German farmers have ignored warnings that protests could be illegal

ROME, Italy -- Obligatory tests have detected the first suspected case of mad cow disease among the country's cattle, the Italian health ministry has said.

The suspected case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), which has yet to be confirmed, was found in a six-year-old cow from a farm near Brescia, in the northern Italian region of Lombardy.

The news came as German cattle farmers demonstrated against the killing of herds linked to the disease after the government admitted 12 cases of BSE had been found in the country.

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Meanwhile, two weeks after all European Union countries stepped up testing of slaughtered cattle for mad cow disease, EU Health Commissioner David Byrne has asked for a status report on their findings, a spokesman said.

The Italian ministry said in a statement it was still waiting for confirmation on the suspected case from further tests which are expected by Tuesday evening.

The cow was slaughtered in Ospedaletto Lodigiano south of Milan on January 11, the ministry said.

A few years ago in Sicily two cows imported from Britain were found to have the brain-wasting disease, but no case in a native Italian cow had been reported before Saturday's announcement.

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Officials added that the two tests to detect BSE in the animal's brain tissues had given "doubtful results," leading the local animal health institute to pass the case to the national institute in Turin.

Under tough new EU rules to prevent the spread of mad cow disease, cattle aged over 30 months must be tested for BSE.

"There is no danger for the consumer," Italy's health minister, Umberto Veronesi, a physician, said.

German farmer protests

Brushing off warnings from Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder against disruptive action, about 500 farmers marched through the centre of the Bavarian village of Nabburg on Saturday, jamming the town of 20,000 for two hours.


The German Government plans to slaughter 400,000 cows

"The government should brace for an escalation of pressure if they don't take our problems seriously," local farm leader Franz Kustner, said.

Schroeder, who had to replace two ministers who resigned over the mad cow debacle this week, warned farmers they would be making a serious mistake if they followed through on threats to blockade motorways and streets.

Wilhelm Niemeyer, Vice President of the Farmers Federation, said motorways and roads would soon be blocked by "cows and bulls running wild" unless the government acted quickly.

"That would be against the law," Schroeder told ARD television late on Friday. "I will not tolerate that at all."

With posters such as "Schroeder destroys farmers," the demonstration was only the latest daily farmer rally.

Schroeder has so far taken a hardline, insisting that consumer protection is more important than farm interests.

Pollsters and analysts point out there are more votes to be won in next year's election from consumers than farmers.

"A lot of farmers are facing financial ruin because the demand for beef has completely collapsed," Kustner said at the rally in Nabburg, 130 kilometres (80 miles) north of Munich.

"We may not be able to contain the anger against the government for much longer."

German officials in particular have been asked by the EU for information about a suspected case of mad cow disease reportedly discovered in a cow less than 30-months-old, which is the starting age for mandatory testing.

EU countries began this month requiring all cattle over 30 months to be proven BSE-free before the beef can be sold.

The German Government had always insisted its 15 million cattle were immune to the illness thought to cause the brain-wasting variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) in humans.

The food and restaurant union (NGG) said at least 10,000 people would lose their jobs in Germany because of waning beef demand.

The government said on Friday that it planned during the next six months to buy 400,000 cows from German farmers, which would be slaughtered and burned.

The Associated Press & Reuters contributed to this report.