A PROMISING blood test can identify cattle with mad cow disease while they are still alive. If the test’s accuracy can be improved, it could spare animals from being killed unnecessarily, and perhaps even allow herds to be screened for the disease. Initial results show it can also detect vCJD, the human form of BSE.
BSE is still present in cattle in the UK, numerous other European countries, Japan and possibly Canada. At the moment, it can only be confirmed by a post mortem, so all suspect animals are killed. But a team at the Robert Koch Institute in Berlin…
