March 1, 2006

Suspected "mad sheep" disease in France

Two suspected cases of "mad sheep" disease have been reported in central France, announced the French Agriculture Ministry on Feb 26.

The two cases were found in separate farms in central France. The brain-wasting disease is also called Scrapie and ovine spongiform encephalopathy.

The ministry said it will take a year of tests to reach a final assessment of the disease.

The disease was common in France in the 19th century but only a single case of the disease was reported in a goat in 2004.

Little is known about the consequences of the rare disease and officials lack knowledge about how transmissible the disease is to other animals.