BSE in Europe, April 2002

Since 1996 about 4.5 million cattle in the United Kingdom have been slaughtered to prevent the spread of Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) at a cost of £1.4 billion in compensation to farmers and £575 million for disposal of carcases. Since the new variant form of CJD (the human form of the disease caused by exposure to BSE) was identified in 1995, 110 people have died. The beef industry in the UK has suffered huge losses from which it has still not recovered. Beef exports still remain at a fraction of their pre-1996 levels. Although the EU ban on British beef exports was lifted in 1998, France still refuses to import any British beef.

Several European countries in which previously there had been little known incidence of BSE have recorded a steadily increasing number of cases. While these are never likely to be as great as those in the UK, this has sparked a renewed sense of unease amongst European consumers about the safety of beef and calls for tighter controls on what is fed to cows and stricter checking procedures for discovering cattle with the disease. A specially convened Agriculture Council on the 4 December 2000 agreed to stricter controls. A White Paper on Food Safety was published in January 2000 and a European Food Safety Authority, set up at the end of 2001, should be operational early in 2002.

Background

BSE and vCJD in the UK

In November 1986 the first case of BSE (Bovine spongiform encephalopathy) was discovered in a herd of cattle in a farm in Sussex in the UK . Scientists concluded that it was a prion disease (like scrapie in sheep) caused by infected animal carcases being processed into cattle feed. Prion proteins are mutated proteins which cause fatal damage to brains which become spongy and full of holes. Loss of coordination and dementia follow. There was concern that BSE might be transmissible and could enter the human food chain. There was a ban on the use of meat and bone meal feed and all infected cattle were slaughtered. There were by then (1988) 2,225 cases of BSE in the UK. The number of BSE cases in the UK peaked in 1992 at 37,280. Measures in force were thought adequate to safeguard both animal and human health. In 1994 the use of animal protein in cattle feed was banned throughout the EU.

Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) in humans is similar to BSE in cattle, but there had been no evidence of any transmission from animals to humans. In 1995 the first victim of a new variant of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) died. At first, government scientists rejected any connection between this new variant and BSE. Tighter controls on farmers' records were imposed and there was a ban on the removal of brains, eyes and spinal cords from carcases in slaughter-houses. On 20 March 1996 the UK government announced a probable link between BSE and vCJD, but concluded that cases were linked to exposure to BSE before the introduction of the bovine offal ban in 1989. A week later the European Commission imposed a complete ban on the export of British beef. The UK government then introduced a 30 month slaughter scheme to ensure that no animal over 30 months at the time of slaughter entered the animal feed or human food chain. Cattle passports were introduced. In 1997 a selective cull of cattle most at risk from BSE was introduced in an attempt to convince the European Commission to lift its ban on exports of British beef. A new computerised cattle tracing system was announced and the sale of beef on the bone was banned. A public BSE Inquiry, to reveal the events and decisions which led to the spread of CJD and BSE, began its hearings in March 1998. In September the cattle tracing scheme was launched and in November the EU lifted its ban on exports. In 1999 a compulsory cull of all cows born after 1 August 1996 to BSE cases confirmed before 25 November 1998 was begun. In 2000 the Report of the Inquiry into BSE and variant CJD in the United Kingdom. was published. Since the new variant form of CJD was identified in 1995, 110 people have died.

BSE in the rest of Europe

Cases of BSE in the UK are declining every year, while in several EU countries (notably Ireland, Portugal and France) the disease is on the increase. This may partly be the result of more efficient methods of testing. Only Sweden has remained free of BSE.

Figures taken from the UK Food Standards Agency's BSE Controls Review

Switzerland has recorded 403 cases of BSE. It is the only country, however, to test for "hidden" BSE in carcases of cattle that did not show any signs of the disease prior to death. These results have doubled Switzerland's previous totals and have prompted concerns that substantial numbers of cases are escaping detection elsewhere in Europe.

In July 2000 the EU Scientific Steering Committee (SSC) adopted an Opinion on the geographic risk of BSE in all EU Member States and certain third countries. It determined four categories of risk and allocated countries to one of the four categories: Category I is assessed as "Highly unlikely", Category II as "Unlikely but not excluded", Category III as "Likely but not confirmed, or confirmed at a lower level" for Category IV as "Confirmed, at a higher level". The UK has been assessed as falling in Category IV, the highest risk category. The threshold for inclusion in Category IV is an incidence of more than 100 confirmed BSE cases per million within the cattle population over 24 months of age in the country, calculated over the last 12 months. It is expected that the epidemic will have declined sufficiently for the United Kingdom to be classified in a lower risk category by 2002.

Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in the rest of Europe

A collaborative study of CJD in the European Union, funded by the European Commission through the BIOMED1 programme, was begun in 1993. From 1993-1995 data was compared from national registries for CJD in France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Slovakia, Spain and the United Kingdom. The principal goal of this analysis was to determine whether the incidence of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease was similar throughout the EU, and if there was any major difference between putative risk factors in various countries. In 1996, the epidemiological surveillance of CJD was extended to all Member States, and in 1997 further extended to include Australia, Canada and Switzerland. This has provided a unique framework to study risk factors for Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, especially the new variant of CJD which appears to be causally linked to BSE.

The announcement by the UK authorities on 20 March 1996 that ten people in that country had recently succumbed to a new variant of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and that a link between bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) could not be ruled out triggered an unprecedented crisis of confidence among European consumers with regard to beef and bovine products. In these circumstances, the European Commission considered it necessary to inform consumers about the situation, the state of scientific knowledge and the measures taken or planned in the European Union to enhance consumer safety. This was the aim of the BSE Vademecum (3rd edition, 1998) prepared by the Interdepartmental Working Party (IWP) set up by the European Commission on 27 March 1996 to evaluate the consequences of the crisis for consumers and to improve the information supplied to them. This has been supplemented by Frequently asked questions about BSE (a press release MEMO/00/89 from the European Commission issued on the 29 November 2000) and an updated version of Frequently asked questions about BSE on the Commission Food Safety website after the introduction of more systematic testing on a compulsory basis from 1 January 2001.

From the first case in 1995 to 20 March 2002 there have been 110 deaths in the UK from definite or probable variant CJD. Referrals of suspect CJD have occurred in all other European Countries but the only instances of deaths probably caused by variant CJD have been 3 in France and 1 in Ireland.

Recent EU action to prevent BSE and support the beef market

In November 2000 the European Commission put forward a 7 point plan or series of new proposals to respond to the current crisis. These proposals were considered by the specially convened Agriculture Council on the 4 December 2000:

• a temporary ban on the feeding of meat and bone meal (MBM) to all farm animals
• a requirement that all animals over 30 months are tested for BSE to enhance consumer confidence
• a requirement that the current list of specified risk materials (SRMs), which must be removed and destroyed, should now also include the entire intestine of bovines of all ages
• a "purchase for destruction" scheme to remove from the food chain all cattle aged over 30 months unless they have been tested for BSE to ensure additional guarantees and to rebalance the beef market
• a flexible handling of public intervention to address the current drop in producer prices.
• to raise the advances paid for the beef premia from currently 60% to 80%, in order to take the financial pressure from beef producers.
• a proposal to require the testing of all "at risk" animals from 1 January 2001. This proposal will be extended to all animals aged over 30 months from 1 July 2001.
  Source: European Commission: Press Release: IP/00/1372 (29.11.00)

At the Agriculture Council meeting on 29 January 2001, the Commissioner for Agriculture Franz Fischler said:

The crisis on the beef market goes further than one might think. The latest market indications are alarming. Many third countries have banned EU beef, a considerable backlog of production that should normally have taken place in 2000, is carried over into 2001 and the reduction in consumption might be more than 10%. Up to now, we have seen an EU-wide drop in consumption of 27%. We have to expect a considerable surplus on the beef market, 795.000 tonnes in 2001, if we assume a 10% drop in consumption and full use of the purchase for destruction scheme (500.000 tonnes). Buying into public intervention only is no solution not only for budget restrictions but also for storage capacity limitation. If we do this, the farm expenditures would simply explode, which would lead to aid cuts in other agriculture sectors.

He called upon the Member States to make use of the purchase for destruction scheme:

The scheme is simply the lesser evil. It is cheaper, offers a solution to farmers who cannot sell their animals, it disposes of the lowest quality beef at the lowest price and hence reduces the surplus and it creates a minimum price on the market to the benefit of producers, as the positive price evolution in France and Ireland proves.

Fischler also called for further measures to limit the EU beef production in the future:

In this context, together with the Member States we have to reflect on a possible set of measures, such as an early marketing premium for calves, or a reduction of the density condition for premia payments to boost extensive farming. The Commission will bring forward a wider ranging package of measures.
Source: Commission Press Release MEMO/01/24, 30 January 2001

In May 2001 he reported again on the beef market situation, which showed signs of recovery.

Compared to the pre-crisis situation, the latest estimates show a drop in beef consumption of 10% (compared to 18% last month). Also the price reduction has become less severe. Furthermore, some third countries such as Russia reopened their market for EU beef. This is partly the result of the measures we put in place. During the first four months of this year, about 475,000 tons of beef have been withdrawn from the market, of which about 200,000 tons are now stored in public intervention. We should however not forget that a considerable number of animals, mainly cows, are still being held back on farms, that consumption is still down and that a significant part of our export markets are still blocked. This means that the intervention stocks are bound to further increase. Moreover, it is difficult to imagine that the consumption will recover to its former level, even in the long term. For all these reasons, we still have to take action to rebalance the beef market, and this is not possible without the 7-points plan I proposed. It should be clear that this is a crisis management package, not a reform.
Source: Commission Press Release MEMO/01/194, 23 May 2001

A "special purchase scheme" was introduced early in 2001 to succeed the "purchase for destruction scheme". Both schemes stipulated that meat from cattle over 30 months old can only enter into the human food chain if it has first been tested negatively for BSE in a move to restore consumer confidence in EU beef. Although the "purchase for destruction scheme" was an effective method of market support in Member States that at the time did not have the capacity to test all animals over 30 months for BSE, it did raise some ethical concerns. The "special purchase scheme" was therefore adopted as an alternative and was initially open only to those Member States which demonstrated full testing capacity for all animals over 30 months of age, and which were faced with a weak market for cow meat. However, once BSE testing of all OTM animals became compulsory on 1 July 2001, the "special purchase scheme" fully replaced "purchase for destruction". Since then, approximately 165 000 tonnes of meat has been bought by the Member States, some of which has been used as national humanitarian aid e.g. to North Korea. The only Member State to be exempted from the scheme is the United Kingdom which has its own OTM (over 30 months) scheme.

In December 2001, European Commissioner Franz Fischler announced that the Commission had decided to extend the special purchase scheme to the end of March 2002. The scheme, introduced as part of the Commission's "7-point plan", is one of the measures designed to ease the short-term pressures on the beef and veal market caused by the BSE crisis. Initially intended to run until the end of 2001, this decision foresees its continuation until 31 March 2002.

The legacy of the BSE crisis still hangs over us, and we must continue to address the problems that it has caused for the market. Given its part so far in redressing a balance between consumption and production, it would be unwise to terminate the "special purchase scheme" prematurely. We still have some way to go. Although the market situation for some categories has improved satisfactorily, a substantial number of cows linked to the beef crisis but not slaughtered in 2001, is expected to be brought to the market in the first quarter of 2002.
Source: Commission Press Release IP/01/1914, 28 December 2001

Currently, the "special purchase scheme" enables Member States, through tenders, to buy into storage meat from all animals in categories B, D, and E that do not qualify for intervention purchases, provided they are over 30 months (OTM) of age and have been tested negatively for BSE. Tendering is only open in those Member States where the price for cows, over a period of two consecutive weeks, is below the trigger price fixed for each Member State. No fixed quantities apply and the purchases are co-financed by the EU (70%) and the Member States (30%).

At the Agriculture Council held in Luxembourg on 22 April 2002 European Commissioner David Byrne gave an update on the situation of BSE in Europe, highlighting the fact that good surveillance is imperative. He updated the Council on recent opinions of the Scientific Steering Committee which amongst others concluded that for the time being there would be no need to extend the current list of Specific Risk Materials. Work is continuing on the re-classification of the risk category of all Member States and third countries. The EU measures for the increased testing of sheep entered into force as of 1 April 2002. Mr Byrne reminded Member States to fully co-operate to rectify deficiencies still highlighted by recent FVO missions. On vCJD, he reported that 125 cases have now been identified in Europe and 1 case in the USA (a British Citizen).

Food safety in the EU

For consumers, safety is the most important ingredient of their food. Because recent crises have undermined public confidence in the capacity of the food industry and of public authorities to ensure that food is safe, the European Commission identified food safety as one of its top priorities. The White Paper on Food Safety of January 12, 2000 set out the plans for a proactive new food policy: modernising legislation into a coherent and transparent set of rules, reinforcing controls from the farm to the table and increasing the capability of the scientific advice system, so as to guarantee a high level of human health and consumer protection.

The main priorities of the White Paper are:

• to create a European Food Safety Authority
• to consistently implement a farm to table approach in food legislation
• to establish the principle that feed and food operators have primary responsibility for food safety; that Member States need to ensure surveillance and control of these operators; that the Commission shall test the performance of Member States' control capacities and capabilities through audits and inspections.

In November 2000, the European Commission proposed the creation of a European Food Safety Authority, whose core task will be to provide independent scientific advice and support and to set up a network for close co-operation with similar bodies in Member States. It will assess risks related to the food chain and give the general public information about food risks. The Commission is doing everything possible to ensure that the Authority is legally set up and that key operations can start as early as possible in 2002.

French ban on British beef

All UK beef exports were banned in 1996 after the British government admitted a probable link between BSE and the human form of the fatal brain-wasting illness, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. When the EU lifted the ban in summer 1999 for meat produced under extremely strict conditions, France maintained its domestic ban, citing claims by its own food safety agency that the risk of human infection could not be excluded. After repeated warnings, the European Commission referred the matter to the European Court of Justice which began its hearings in June 2001. The Commission's lawyers said France's refusal to respect an EU decision lifting the ban was "brazen and unjustified". Lawyers for the French government told the court that the case was of "crucial importance" for human and animal health throughout the EU, where more than 100 probable or confirmed cases of new variant CJD have been recorded.

The opinion of Jean Mischo (the ECJ Advocate General), given in September 2001, was that the French government could not refuse meat imported directly from the UK. However, he said France could be justified in prohibiting British beef imported via another country, because of the lack of an EU-wide tracing system for beef in 1999, when British beef exports resumed.

In the judgment, in December 2001, the Court's ruled that the French ban was illegal. However France had some justification for its concerns because the European Union did not have a reliable tracing system in place for beef when it allowed some British exports to resume in August 1999.

France wants Britain to introduce mandatory testing of all cattle older than 30 months to allow a more accurate picture to be drawn of the status of BSE, of which there have been more than 180,000 cases in the UK. At the moment, only animals that are destined for food production have to be tested, although the UK also tests a random sample of other cattle.

France has given the clearest indication yet that it is not about to lift its import ban on British beef, citing a report that criticises measures by the UK to reduce the risks from BSE, or mad cow disease. Jean Glavany, French agriculture minister, said that his government's decision on whether to lift the embargo would be based purely on the need to protect consumers. He referred to a recent report from the European Commission's Food and Veterinary Office that cast doubt on the true picture of BSE in the UK. The report concluded: "as active surveillance is practically not performed, it has to be assumed that the BSE incidence for Great Britain has to be seen with a considerable degree of uncertainty."

In March 2002, Brussels threatened France with monthly fines following its insistence that it will not accept British beef imports before June 2002 when the French general election will be held. The European Commission said that unless France reversed its position, it would consider reopening infringement proceedings and ask the European Court of Justice to order the fines to be paid. The issue may not be easy to solve, however. The French government may prefer to be fined than to undermine the ruling of the food safety agency it set up.

The National Farmers' Union is pursuing its own European court action against the French ban. Ben Gill, NFU president, said "British farmers are outraged that France continues to defy EU law and we have been forced down this long-winded legal route to get justice." (Britain had exported more than £300m of beef to France before the ban).

On 20 March 2002 a letter of formal notice was sent to France for non-compliance of Court judgment on British beef .

Under the EU-Treaty (Article 228(1)) a Member State is obliged to implement a judgment of the European Court of Justice. On 13 December 2001, the Court declared France's refusal to end the ban on British beef and veal as unlawful (Case C-1/00). Thus, France was to implement EU legislation and to create the legal conditions to allow the resumption of imports of British beef to France. Up to now no measure implementing the Court judgment has been communicated to the European Commission. The Commission has therefore sent today a letter of formal notice to France identifying France's infringement of the Court judgment. France is expected to submit its observations within 30 days.

Note to editors:

• Since 1 August 1999 British beef can be exported under the so-called DBES system (date-based export scheme) which sets strict conditions (i.e. only deboned meat of bovines between 6-30 months of age).
• Article 228 of the EU Treaty established the legal procedure to follow if a Member State does not comply with a Court of Justice judgment. After a letter of formal notice, a reasoned opinion is addressed to the Member State concerned. If non-compliance continues, the Commission may apply to the Court of Justice to impose a fine. The Court is free to decide the level of the fine and is not bound by any amount suggested by the Commission.

Source: Commission Press Release IP/02/446, 20 March 2002

Further information within European Sources Online:

European Sources Online: Topic Guides
	The Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union. February 2001
	The consumer policy of the European Union. February 2001
	Food safety in the European Union. April 2001
	The European Union and public health. December 2001

European Sources Online: In Focus
	Export of British beef and the use of sludge in animal feed, November 1999, October 1999
	Export of British beef and the use of sludge in animal feed, November 1999, November 1999 [Update]
	Commission launches White Paper on Food Safety, January 2000, January 2000
European Sources Online: European Voice
	19.11.98:	Traumatic and costly UK beef ban saga finally draws to a close
	15.07.99:	Recovery in UK beef exports set to be slow
	21.10.99:	EU explores ways to satisfy Paris on beef
	18.11.99:	End to Anglo-French beef battle in sight
	13.01.00:	EU faces uphill struggle to agree beef labelling rules by deadline
	04.05.00:	Call for new measures to combat BSE
	06.07.00:	New rules banning animal tissues suspected of carrying BSE from the animal and human food chain have been adopted by the Commission
	27.07.00:	Food Safety Commissioner David Byrne has decided not to lift the ban on exports of Portuguese cattle...
	16.11.00:	EU veterinary officials this week agreed to extend a planned BSE testing programme to all suspect animals in order to establish the precise level of BSE in Europe's cattle herds
	04.01.01:	Food Safety Commissioner David Byrne has sparked a row with German Farm Minister Karl-Heinz Funke
	08.02.01:	BSE crisis forces Fischler move to head off beef market surplus
	26.04.01:	Fitting a new CAP on Europe's farming
	05.07.01:	Union food safety is finally a priority
	22.11.01:	Only safe products should be on the market. That's my bottom line
	14.03.02:	France faces fine over UK beef embargo
European Sources Online: Financial Times
	20.02.01:	Sweden's caring farmers are rewarded with public's trust
	27.02.01:	Member States oppose EU beef plan
	05.03.01:	Intensive farming
	12.03.01:	Germany faces ban on beef exports
	26.03.01:	Paris, Berlin to study farm reform
	18.05.01:	French leaders criticised on BSE
	22.05.01:	Fischler's beef plan faces tough opposition
	20.06.01:	Lawyers condemn France's beef ban
	12.07.01:	EU beef market under pressure for reform
	21.09.01:	French ban on British beef "breaks EU law"
	20.12.01:	France unlikely to lift ban on British beef soon
	10.01.02:	France may ease BSE policy
	12.03.02:	Move to boost British beef exports
	14.03.02:	Brussels threatens France on beef ban
	16.03.02:	Prodi vows to act over French ban on British beef

Further information can be seen in these external links:
(long-term access cannot be guaranteed)

European Union

European Commission: Press and Communication Service
	15.11.00:	Main EU legislation on BSE
	29.11.00:	SSC adopts opinion on scientific justification of national BSE measures
	01.12.00:	Results of the Standing Veterinary Committee on BSE
	13.06.01:	BSE: Results of the Standing Veterinary Committee
	20.06.01:	Beef market situation: update June 2001
	23.10.01:	Beef market situation: update October 2001
	23.10.01:	Speech by David Byrne, European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection, Latest developments in relation to BSE, Agriculture Council, Luxembourg.
	20.11.01:	Speech of David Byrne at the Agricultural Council on Latest developments in relation to BSE
	13.02.01:	Commission unveils "7-point plan" to tackle beef crisis
	19.12.01:	Beef market situation : update December 2001
	24.01.02:	SSC publishes new opinions on BSE related issues
	18.02 02:	Speech by David Byrne, European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection, Latest developments in relation to BSE, Agriculture Council, Brussels
	13.03.02:	Questions and answers on animal by-products
	20.03.02:	Letter of formal notice sent to France for non-compliance of Court judgment on British beef

Further Press Releases, Speeches and Memos from this source can be found by a search on RAPID. Choose the date period to be covered and insert "BSE" in either the "Title" or "Text" fields.

European Commission: DG Agriculture
	Homepage
	Agriculture website
	Beef and veal
European Commission: DG Health and Consumer Protection
	Homepage
	Food safety: From the farm to the fork
	Animal feed safety
	BSE
	Frequently asked questions about BSE tests, 19 December 2000
	Chronological overview of Community legislation concerning BSE, 30 January 2001
	Frequently asked questions about BSE, 6 April 2001
	Number of cases of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy 1987 - 2001
	Number of cases of BSE 1987-2002 (in French), 28 February 2002
	Scientific Steering Committee
	Debate: Food Quality in Europe
European Commission. The European and Allied Countries Collaborative Study Group of CJD - EUROCJD
	Homepage
European Commission. The Extended European Collaborative Study Group of CJD NEUROCJD
	Homepage
European Commission: DG Press and Communication: SCADPLUS
	Public health and animal health - BSE - situation and outlook
European Food Safety Authority
	Homepage
	About EFSA
	Road map to EFSA
	EFSA Structure
	Publications
	Speeches
	Questions and answers

National governments

United Kingdom: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	Homepage
	Animal health and welfare
	BSE
	Publications
	The Government's Interim Response to the Report of the BSE Inquiry. February 2001
	The Government's Response to the Report of the BSE Inquiry. September 2001
	Review of the origin of BSE. 2001
United Kingdom: The BSE Inquiry
	Homepage
	Report of the Inquiry into BSE and variant CJD in the United Kingdom. October 2000
United Kingdom: Food Standards Agency
	Homepage
	FSA guide to BSE
	BSE Controls Review
	BSE News Digest
	Worldwide BSE figures (by country)
	UK imports of beef and offal (by country)
United Kingdom. Department of Health
	Homepage
	CJD and BSE
	Monthly CJD statistical figures
France: Ministry of Agriculture and Fish
	ESB Info [in French]
France: Agence Française de Sécurité Sanitaire des Aliments (AFSSA)
	Homepage [in French]
	News [in French]
	Dossier: Encephalopathies spongiformes subaigues transmissibles [in French]
Germany: Federal Ministry for Food, Agriculture and Forestry
	BSE Information [in German]
Ireland. Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development
	Homepage
	BSE in Ireland
	BSE cases for week ending
Spain. Ministry of Agriculture
	Información EEB (in Spanish)

Non-governmental organisations

European Consumers' Organisation (BEUC)
	Homepage
	BSE: Transparency, controls and testing are fundamental, 16.11.00
	EU consumers demand answers and actions on BSE, 01.12.00
Human BSE Foundation
	Homepage
Office International des Epizooties - OIE (World Organisation for Animal Health)
	Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE)
	Number of BSE cases reported in the UK
	Number of BSE cases reported worldwide (excluding the UK)
	Annual incidence rate of BSE
Sperling Biomedical Foundation
	The Official Mad Cow Disease Homepage
	Links
University of Edinburgh
	The UK Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Surveillance Unit
World Health Organisation
	Homepage
	Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies

News services

BBC News
	26.10.00:	Ministers "misled" public on BSE
	29.11.00:	EU tackles BSE crisis
	01.12.00:	Germany moves to ban British beef
	05.01.01:	Europe's growing concern
	13.02.01:	BSE threat to EU farm programme
	16.02.01:	Europe's BSE crisis (clickable map)
	21.02.01:	New BSE cases in Spain
	13.06.01:	Europe has no BSE epidemic
	17.11.01:	Mass testing to trace BSE [in UK}
	07.12.01:	First BSE case in Finland
	14.12.01:	Austria confirms first BSE case
	25.02.02:	BSE still reaching Britain in feed
	14.03.02:	Inquiry into BSE test anomaly
	20.03.02:	BSE cases detected in Donegal
	11.04.02:	Spanish import raises BSE fears
	The BBC News "in depth" feature on BSE and CJD is updated daily and provides extensive hyperlinks to further information and background on the topic.
British Medical Journal
	Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease
Steve Dealler
	Information concerning BSE for the scientific and business world

Further and subsequent information on the subject of this week's In Focus can be found by an 'Advanced Search' in European Sources Online by inserting 'BSE' in the keyword field.

Original compilation: Ian Thomson, December 2000
Revision: Freda Carroll, April 2002

Overview of the BSE crisis in Europe.