U.S. Bans Import of Most European Meat

Fears that mad cow disease could cross the Atlantic Ocean prompted federal officials to ban imports of all cattle, sheep and related products from Europe until the risk is fully assessed. Previously, the Agriculture Department had restricted imports of cattle, sheep and many products, such as fresh meat and bone meal, from nine European countries where the disease was known to exist. The action announced expands that ban to other European countries. No case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy--the proper name of the neurological disorder fatal in cattle--has ever been reported in the United States. Eating meat from cattle tainted by the disease is believed to cause the brain-wasting Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans, which has killed at least 20 people, mostly in Britain. In 1996, the United States imported about 381,000 metric tons of beef and veal from Europe and about 114,000 metric tons of lamb and mutton, according to the American Meat Institute.