Laboratory tests confirm scrapie infection in Czech Republic
The Czech Republic’s State Veterinary Office has announced that laboratory tests carried out on January 3, 2002, confirmed a case of scrapie infection in the offspring of an imported sheep. The news was announced by agriculture ministry spokesman Pavel Kovar.
The disease is not thought to be transferable to humans, but it has been connected with mad cow disease (BSE) in cattle, where there has been some evidence of danger to humans. Agriculture minister Jan Fencl convened the Central Infection Commission on Monday, January 7, and will await the outcome of any investigation before deciding on any necessary measures. Veterinarians say that the discovery of scrapie in the sheep need not mean the wholesale slaughter of sheep at the farm in question.
Over the past ten years the population of sheep in the Czech Republic has fallen sharply – from 400,000 in 1989 to 90,240 in 2001.
