Sufaud
French mad cow disease cases went undetected By Kim
Willsher in Paris
Sunday Telegraph (London) (Filed: 04/07/2004)
A mad cow disease epidemic in France went completely
undetected and led to almost 50,000 severely infected
animals entering the food chain, according to a shocking
report by French government researchers.
More than 300,000 cows contracted BSE (bovine spongiform
encephalopathy) in the past 13 years, 300 times more than
the number of officially recorded cases, say researchers
at France's official Institute of Health and Medical
Research (Inserm).
Their report reveals that while blustering French
politicians blamed Britain for the emergence of the disease
- and attempted to create a cordon sanitaire by banning
imports of British beef - they failed to adopt measures to
prevent a hidden epidemic at home.
Only in June 1996 was potentially dangerous bovine offal
banned in France, almost seven years after Britain. Just
four years ago, as France ignored a European Union ruling
that British beef was safe again, infected cattle were still
entering the food chain, the researchers say.
Their disturbing findings are contained in a report, The
Unrecognised French BSE Epidemic, published in the
international scientific review Veterinary Research.
Their report came as Paris officials revealed the death of a
55-year-old Frenchman believed to have suffered from variant
Creutzfeld-Jakob disease (vCJD), the human form of BSE. If
confirmed, the death would bring to seven the number of
confirmed French victims of the disease.
"We estimate that 301,200 cows in France were infected by
BSE between 1980 and June 2000," conclude the authors of the
report, Virginie Supervie and Dominique Costagliola. "There
is uncertainty about estimates of the number of cases in the
early 1980s, but the level of animals infected climbed
between 1987 and 1990 and dropped from then until 1992.
"Furthermore, 47,300 animals at an advanced stage of the
disease entered into the food chain before 1996, and 1,500
between July 1996 and June 2000." According to previous
official figures there were just 103 confirmed cases of the
disease between 1991 and 2000, during which period the
government relied on farmers and veterinarians to report
animals with BSE.
Since 2000, when controls were tightened, a further 820
cases have been confirmed, according to figures published
last month, bringing the total to 923 over the past 13 years
- a tiny fraction of the total estimated in the new report.
The report's authors drew on data about BSE cases in cattle
and facts about the spread of the disease to calculate the
likely true extent of the BSE epidemic in France. Dominique
Costagliola said: "The French authorities have known for
some time that the official statistics were not a true
reflection of the epidemic." British cattle feed containing
the rendered carcasses of other animals - alleged to have
caused the disease - was sold in France until 1989. That was
three years after the first case of BSE was discovered in
Britain, where farmers were required to report all cattle
showing symptoms. In 1989 Britain banned the use of animal
protein in cattle food, outlawed bovine offal in human food
and introduced a mass slaughter plan under which entire
herds of an animal showing symptoms of BSE were destroyed.
France banned the suspect cattle feed the following year and
required farmers and vets to report animals suspected of
having the disease. Its first reported case was in 1991. The
discovery of an apparent link between BSE and its human
equivalent, vCJD, was made in 1996 and led to a worldwide
ban on British beef. The ban was lifted by the EU 1999 but
illegally maintained by France until 2002. Yet it was not
until 2001 that France introduced compulsory tests for BSE
in cows, older than 24 months, sent for slaughter.
The report's authors conclude that the disease was prevalent
in French herds during the 1980s, but that the epidemic went
completely unnoticed. "Only the second wave, after 1990, was
observed," they write.
The editors of Veterinary Research were so disturbed when
they received the report that they asked three independent
scientists to evaluate its findings. All three concurred
that the basis for the calculations was correct.
Joelle Charley-Poulain, a joint editor of the magazine,
said: "I was very perturbed when I first read the article. I
was worried that these figures would alarm the public, which
is why we had them checked out by three specialists."
In Britain, where there are estimated to have been four
million BSE infected cows compared with 200,000 officially
reported cases, researchers have long claimed that France
underestimated the number of contaminated cattle.
http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/-
07/04/wmad04.xml
Willsher in Paris
Sunday Telegraph (London) (Filed: 04/07/2004)
A mad cow disease epidemic in France went completely
undetected and led to almost 50,000 severely infected
animals entering the food chain, according to a shocking
report by French government researchers.
More than 300,000 cows contracted BSE (bovine spongiform
encephalopathy) in the past 13 years, 300 times more than
the number of officially recorded cases, say researchers
at France's official Institute of Health and Medical
Research (Inserm).
Their report reveals that while blustering French
politicians blamed Britain for the emergence of the disease
- and attempted to create a cordon sanitaire by banning
imports of British beef - they failed to adopt measures to
prevent a hidden epidemic at home.
Only in June 1996 was potentially dangerous bovine offal
banned in France, almost seven years after Britain. Just
four years ago, as France ignored a European Union ruling
that British beef was safe again, infected cattle were still
entering the food chain, the researchers say.
Their disturbing findings are contained in a report, The
Unrecognised French BSE Epidemic, published in the
international scientific review Veterinary Research.
Their report came as Paris officials revealed the death of a
55-year-old Frenchman believed to have suffered from variant
Creutzfeld-Jakob disease (vCJD), the human form of BSE. If
confirmed, the death would bring to seven the number of
confirmed French victims of the disease.
"We estimate that 301,200 cows in France were infected by
BSE between 1980 and June 2000," conclude the authors of the
report, Virginie Supervie and Dominique Costagliola. "There
is uncertainty about estimates of the number of cases in the
early 1980s, but the level of animals infected climbed
between 1987 and 1990 and dropped from then until 1992.
"Furthermore, 47,300 animals at an advanced stage of the
disease entered into the food chain before 1996, and 1,500
between July 1996 and June 2000." According to previous
official figures there were just 103 confirmed cases of the
disease between 1991 and 2000, during which period the
government relied on farmers and veterinarians to report
animals with BSE.
Since 2000, when controls were tightened, a further 820
cases have been confirmed, according to figures published
last month, bringing the total to 923 over the past 13 years
- a tiny fraction of the total estimated in the new report.
The report's authors drew on data about BSE cases in cattle
and facts about the spread of the disease to calculate the
likely true extent of the BSE epidemic in France. Dominique
Costagliola said: "The French authorities have known for
some time that the official statistics were not a true
reflection of the epidemic." British cattle feed containing
the rendered carcasses of other animals - alleged to have
caused the disease - was sold in France until 1989. That was
three years after the first case of BSE was discovered in
Britain, where farmers were required to report all cattle
showing symptoms. In 1989 Britain banned the use of animal
protein in cattle food, outlawed bovine offal in human food
and introduced a mass slaughter plan under which entire
herds of an animal showing symptoms of BSE were destroyed.
France banned the suspect cattle feed the following year and
required farmers and vets to report animals suspected of
having the disease. Its first reported case was in 1991. The
discovery of an apparent link between BSE and its human
equivalent, vCJD, was made in 1996 and led to a worldwide
ban on British beef. The ban was lifted by the EU 1999 but
illegally maintained by France until 2002. Yet it was not
until 2001 that France introduced compulsory tests for BSE
in cows, older than 24 months, sent for slaughter.
The report's authors conclude that the disease was prevalent
in French herds during the 1980s, but that the epidemic went
completely unnoticed. "Only the second wave, after 1990, was
observed," they write.
The editors of Veterinary Research were so disturbed when
they received the report that they asked three independent
scientists to evaluate its findings. All three concurred
that the basis for the calculations was correct.
Joelle Charley-Poulain, a joint editor of the magazine,
said: "I was very perturbed when I first read the article. I
was worried that these figures would alarm the public, which
is why we had them checked out by three specialists."
In Britain, where there are estimated to have been four
million BSE infected cows compared with 200,000 officially
reported cases, researchers have long claimed that France
underestimated the number of contaminated cattle.
http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/-
07/04/wmad04.xml
