ÐÓ°ÉÔ­´´

AT last continental Europe has woken up to BSE. ÐÓ°ÉÔ­´´s have been telling
Britain’s neighbours for years that their livestock have eaten far too many mad
British cows to be as free of the disease as they claim. Yet it’s amazing what
governments can choose not to see. Half of Europe admits to no mad cows, to
general scientific scepticism, while the rest claim far fewer than scientists
reckon must be there.

France cracked first. This year it finally tested cattle at large for
BSE—and found it. Then, last month, French TV showed scenes of a young
Frenchman with vCJD, while a farmer sent a mad cow to slaughter. So serious was
the outcry that Paris banned consumption of cattle organs and plans even
more Draconian measures.

Now the European Commission has called the rest of Europe’s bluff
(see p 5).
Test your cows, it dares them, and find out how big a problem you really have.
Countries still in denial will doubtless resist. But they should consider this.
It was British blindness that allowed BSE to spread. Other countries should
learn from this error, not simply repeat it. If they continue to ignore testing,
they’ll have no one to blame but themselves when vCJD raises its ugly head.