BSE confirmed in France
BSE was first detected in Britain in the late 1980s.
A case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) has been confirmed in France following tests on a five-year-old cow.
Discovered in the northeastern region of Ardennes, the isolated case was confirmed on March 23, 2016 by the reference laboratory of the European Union.
It is the third single case of BSE of this type detected in Europe since 2015 and is likely to have an impact on beef exports.
In a statement on their website, the French Ministry said: “The detection of this case does not affect the consumer. Beef consumption is safe for humans.”
However that add that the outbreak is likely to affect French exports because the country’s official BSE risk level assigned by the Office of International Exports (OIE) would be changed.
“Depending on countries, export conditions of French cattle could be modified,” it said.
In 2015, France regained the safest BSE rating of “negligible risk” as it was able to show that the last infected animals was born over 11 years ago.
Several countries, including South Africa, Vietnam and Singapore lifted embargoes on French beef following the OIE decision.
BSE was first detected in Britain in the late 1980s, spreading to other parts of Europe and destroying cattle herds until the early 2000s.
The disease has been linked to Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) in humans - a rare, degenerative and invariably fatal neurological condition.
Defra has published guidance for the vet sector ahead of a proposed UK-EU Sanitary and Phytosanitary agreement.
