BSE fears: What the papers say
29 August 2000
BSE fears: What the papers say
By FWi staff
RESEARCH suggesting that BSE could be passed from one species to another without any symptoms makes headlines in all the morning newspapers.
The study, led by Professor John Collinge of the Medical Research Council, raises fears that poultry, sheep and pigs could harbour invisible BSE.
This could in turn be passed on to humans through the food chain, say researchers.
The Guardian says the news confirms the worst fears scientists have had about the disease, and claims that Europe quakes.
The newspaper says new checks on sheep, pigs and poultry are needed to see if recently banned farming methods have not created other potentially fatal routes for BSE to enter people.
It claims scrapie in sheep may have changed to a more harmful strain after passing through cattle and back to sheep through past cannibalistic feeding practices.
According to the The Guardian the research also raises suspicions that more cattle were infected with BSE than previously thought.
The Daily Mail reports that researchers say there is an argument for the screening of apparently healthy cattle after slaughter for sub-clinical infection.
It says this would be a further hammer blow to the beleaguered industry.
The Daily Express says the report raises the spectre of a hidden form of mad cow disease jumping animal species to infect lamb, pork and poultry.
The same newspaper reports that a man suffering from the human form of BSE, variant CJD, is fighting for his life at Telford, Shropshire.
He is the 80th person to contract the disease in Britain, says the Express.
- NBA sceptical about new BSE fears, FWi, 29 August 2000
- The Independent 29/08/2000 page 1
- The Guardian 29/08/2000 page 1 and 6
- Financial Times 29/08/2000 page 1
- The Times 29/08/2000 page 10
- The Daily Telegraph 29/08/2000 page 7
- The Daily Mail 29/08/2000 page 1 and 6
- The Daily Express 29/08/2000 page 2