March 10, 2006

EU scientists suspect mad cow disease in sheep
 

The European Commission has ordered scientists at the EU laboratories in Weybridge, Surrey, England, to conduct further tests on the brains of two sheep on suspicions that the animals were infected with mad cow disease, or BSE.

Preliminary test results on one sheep from France and the other from Cyprus were inconclusive.

Further tests are expected to take between 12 and 18 months to complete.

The news came soon after the EU lifted a 10-year ban on UK beef exports due to BSE.

However, the commission sought to allay public fears through a statement that "BSE has never been found under natural circumstances in sheep."

The statement added that, "Whatever the final test findings show, there is no risk to public health as the sheep did not enter the food and feed chain and strict animal health measures are applied to all farmed ruminants."

The sheep were tested as part of a surveillance programme throughout the bloc for diseases such as BSE in cows, scrapie in sheep and Creutzfeldt-Jackob Disease in humans.

Although BSE has never been detected in sheep before, experts have not ruled out the possibility.