001257 Mad Cow Disease May Have Spread in Europe

Geneva - Meat and animal feed infected with mad cow disease may have been sold across the globe, raising the possibility of outbreaks beyond Europe, the World Health Organization said.

Maura Ricketts, a physician and WHO specialist, said it was almost impossible to trace where suspect meat or feed might have gone since mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, was first identified in Britain in 1986.

The disease is considered the likely cause of a new variant of the human brain-wasting ailment, Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease. So far, 87 cases of variant CJD have been identified in Britain, three in France and one in Ireland.

Governments were slow to impose bans on the import of meat and bone meal and other potentially risky animal products, and the goods were exported for a long time after the disease was identified, she said.

“We may have to sensitize countries to the fact that they are at risk,” she added.

Britain has spent $7.5 billion on containing the disease. If the disease were discovered in a developing country, the economic effects could be even more disastrous, she said.

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