 991241 UK Says Extent Of "Mad Cow" Crisis Not ClearDecember 20, 1999 London - The full health risks from Britain's costly epidemic of “mad cow disease” are still unknown, the chairman of a long-running investigation into the crisis said. Speaking at the final session of an inquiry which has taken evidence from 300 people, Lord Justice Phillips said it was not yet clear how many cases of CJD -- the human form of the disease -- would emerge. “The full extent of that disaster may not be clear for many years to come,” he told a news conference. He said the 48 known cases of CJD -- the deadly human Creutzfeld Jakob disease affecting the brain -- may turn out to be just the “tip of the iceberg.” The inquiry was set up in 1997 to establish and review the history and emergence of BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) and its human CJD form, but the final report, due this month, has been postponed until March 2000. Evidence from hundreds of civil servants, scientists and politicians, including former Prime Ministers Lady Thatcher and John Major, has been given to the inquiry, which is also examining the role played by the government in the crisis. “Mad cow” disease was first detected in cattle in Britain in November 1986 by the then Conservative government's central veterinary laboratory. Three years later, after the discovery that the disease was caused by feeding meat and bone meal to cattle, the European Union banned exports of British beef and cattle born before July 1988. Although that ban has officially been lifted, the British government is still locked in battle with France over its refusal to allow the import of British beef. The European Union this week began legal action against France over the issue.
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