According to new French research reported in le figaro more than 300,000 French cows would have been infected by the agent BSE (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy ) since the 1980's. This contradicts official government figures of only 923 bovine infections since the dies ease was officially confirmed present in France in 1991.
These new figures call into question the French government's capacity to supervise the animal disease and has highlighted weaknesses in the overall management of the epidemic.
The research has been published in the Review of Veterinary Research, by Virginia Supervie and Domenica Costagliola, of Inserm.
The BSE epidemic in the United Kingdom was discovered in 1986. BSE is thought to have spread by the practice of feeding cattle meat and bone meal, a high-protein substance obtained from the remnants of butchered animals. This practice allowed the accumulation of prions over many generations. The use of meat and bone meal as a protein supplement in cattle feed was widespread in Europe prior to about 1987. Soybean meal is the primary plant-based protein supplement fed to cattle. However, soybeans do not grow well in Europe, so cattle raisers throughout Europe turned to the less expensive animal byproduct feeds as an alternative.
Of the 152 human cases so far, 143 occurred in the United Kingdom, 6 in France, and one in Italy. Three cases of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease occurred in people who had lived in or visited Britain--one each in Ireland, Canada and the United States. There is also some concern about those who work with (and therefore inhale) cattle meat and bone meal, such as horticulturists who use it as fertilizer.