ACROSS Europe, tens of millions of people believe they have little chance of
catching new variant Creutzfeld-Jakob disease (vCJD) because their countries are
officially BSE-free. But scientists advising the European Commission say they
have every reason to be worried.
BSE, believed to be the cause of vCJD, is much more widespread than some
countries will admit: the advisers say that Germany, Italy and Spain, officially
BSE-free, are “likely to be infected”. And infection “is unlikely but cannot be
excluded” in six more European countries, as well as Canada, Australia and the
US.
These figures have emerged from a two-year study…
