January 31, 2005

EU discovers first mad cow case in goats

The European Commission stated that a French goat slaughtered in 2002 has tested positive for mad cow disease, the first case of the disease found in animals other than cattle.

Mad cow disease, a brain wasting disease, rampaged across Europe in the 1990s. Over 100 people have died from the human form of the disease after eating tainted meat.

"Precautionary measures to protect consumers from this eventuality have been applied in the EU for several years ... any possible risk to consumers is minimal," the Commission said in a statement.

"The European Commission proposes to step up testing to determine if this is an isolated incident."