★☆Media Reports ☆★

‘Mad Cow’ Threat to Humans

Reuters

 

　＜PARIS＞A leading scientist said in a report commissioned by the French government that “mad cow” disease is a potential threat to humans, echoing similar warnings in Britain, government officials said Friday.

　The report concludes that bovine spongiform encephalopathy should be assumed to carry an infection risk pending further research, which could take two years, they said.

　“We have to give enormous importance to the possibility of human infection,” Jean-Francois Girard, director-general for health at the Health Ministry, told a news conference.

　Another official said French experts believed they would need two years to find out whether there was a risk of the disease causing the human brain disorder Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease.

　The report by Dr. Dominique Dormont was commissioned in mid- April, two weeks after the British government said there was a risk of human infection. France plans to provide an extra 3 million francs ($580,000) to a panel set up to study the disease.

Portugal Stands Firm

　The Portuguese government gave no signs Friday that it was willing to soften its opposition to lifting the ban on British beef exports or beef derivatives after meetings with the British foreign secretary, Malcolm Rifkind, news agencies reported from Lisbon.