BSE fading away

THE BSE epidemic is slowly drawing to a close and will probably be finished in ten years, according to this week’s report by an international panel of experts headed by Professor Patrick Cunningham of Trinity College.

The disease which caused Europe’s worst peacetime crisis in 100 years for the livestock sector is unlikely to recur, according to the report. But its authors have estimated the long-term BSE bill at 92 billion, far more than is generally appreciated. Much of the cost will be carried by farmers, mostly in the form of a long term beef price decline of about 3% a year.The latest farmers affected are in Canada, where a single case in May 2003 is costing $11 million a day in lost exports.

“Though the epidemic is drawing to a close, the technical and economic impact will continue. Consumer confidence in the integrity of the food chain has been severely damaged. Government agencies and controls have been discredited”, said the authors of the report, who were also critical of farming methods and the meat industry.