‘Mad Cow’ Case Detected in France
A new case of “mad cow” disease has been detected in France, authorities said Sunday--the seventh since the beginning of the year.
The cow was part of a herd of 600 near Bourg-en-Bresse, in the Ain region of southeastern France. The herd was slaughtered and incinerated on Saturday, officials said.
Last year, French authorities discovered 31 cases of mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy.
Authorities have said that new cases of mad cow disease will break out in France until 2001, five years after stringent prevention measures were taken against the disease, which has an average incubation period of five years.
France has provoked a spat within the European Union by keeping in place its ban on beef from Britain, where the brain-wasting disease started in 1996.
The EU ruled in August that British beef was again safe for import, but France has maintained its ban.
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