BSE found in goat in France
Europe’s food watchdog, the European Food and Safety Authority, has confirmed that the first case of BSE has been identified in a goat in
The goat had already tested positive for scrapie, a disease similar to BSE, in an EU-wide testing programme in 2000 and was slaughtered in 2002. Further tests triggered the suspicion that this could be a BSE infection.
The EU Commission wants to test 200,000 goats in the 25 EU member states over the next six months. The programme would concentrate on countries where cases of BSE have been reported in cattle in the past and the EU governments will soon decide on the plan through voting. "I am proposing to extend testing further to determine whether this is an isolated incident," said EU health and consumer protection commissioner Markos Kyprianou.
A report from the European Association of Animal Production estimates the cost of BSE to EU15 (prior to accession) member states at more than €90 billion. First identified in 1986 in the
