The German government yesterday announced a program at seven universities and research institutes to study whether bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), popularly known as "mad cow disease," can be transmitted to humans possibly causing two related diseases that very rarely affect humans: Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and Gerstmann Straussler syndrome. The risk of contracting the disease by eating infected beef is considered minimal, but not non-existent. BSE health ministers will discuss contaminated British beef on March 30. Meanwhile 50 cases of BSE have been recorded in Switzerland and two in Germany, one affecting a cow imported from Britain.
The German government yesterday announced a program at seven universities and research institutes to study whether bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), popularly known as "mad cow disease," can be transmitted to humans possibly causing two related diseases that very rarely affect humans: Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and Gerstmann Straussler syndrome. The risk of contracting the disease by eating infected beef is considered minimal, but not non-existent. EU health ministers will discuss contaminated British beef on March 30. Meanwhile 50 cases of BSE have been recorded in Switzerland and two in Germany, one affecting a cow imported from Britain.