BSE fears continue in UK
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* Mary Helen Spooner

New cases of variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (vCJD) in the United Kingdom and Western Europe have prompted the European Parliament to implement more stringent measures to protect consumers. The European Commission is now monitoring its 15 member countries for compliance, and countries that fail to implement safeguards face fines.

![Figure1](http://www.cmaj.ca/https://www.cmaj.ca/content/cmaj/166/9/1197.1/F1.medium.gif)

[Figure1](http://www.cmaj.ca/content/166/9/1197.1/F1)

Figure. **Despite mass slaughters like this one in Germany, the risk of vCJD persists.** Photo by: Canapress

VCJD, the human form of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), had killed 109 people in the UK by March 2002, with 5 of the deaths occurring this year. There have also been 4 deaths in France and 1 in Italy.

Meanwhile, countries struggle to control the risk. Britain's Food Standards Agency said in January that meat from the offspring of a cow that developed BSE had been sold to consumers. Although scientists are uncertain whether vertical transmission can occur, all calves born to cows with BSE are supposed to be destroyed as a precaution. A spokesperson for the agency said there is a backlog of these calves.

*The Guardian* says 2 new cases of BSE are still being identified daily in British cattle, including 13 in cattle born after feed regulations were tightened in 1996. That same year, authorities announced that meat from infected cattle was the likely cause of the disease in humans, but other modes of transmission are still being investigated. British officials issued guidelines for the decontamination of surgical instruments after experts identified them as a theoretical source of vCJD infection. They have already examined and graded decontamination procedures at 182 acute care hospitals.

Another theoretical risk is infection caused by the UK's 40 million sheep. In January the government extended a program to eradicate scrapie amid speculation that it could cause vCJD in humans. — *Mary Helen Spooner*, West Sussex, UK