BBC
 |
| A distraught German farmer whose cow tested
positive. |
Germany has
followed France in calling for new Europe-wide measures to control
the spread of "mad cow" disease, as alarm mounts across
Europe.
German Agriculture
Minister Berlin's abrupt change of approach reflects a national
sense of shock after the discovery on Friday of the first two
cases of the disease in Germany, the latest of a growing number
of European countries affected.
At the same
time, the Berlin government is stepping up domestic precautions,
with the announcement that feed for livestock containing animal
matter will be banned from Wednesday.
Meat and bone-meal
is said to be the main carrier of mad cow disease.
Addressing
farmers in south-west Germany, Agriculture Minister Karl-Heinz
Funke called for mandatory new tests across the European Union
on slaughtered cattle and on beef imported into the EU.
On Friday,
President Chirac of France said there should be a move towards
a Europe-wide ban on animal feed containing meat as soon as possible
in an effort to contain the disease.
German
response
In response
to the discovery that "mad cow" disease or BSE had crossed
into Germany, Mr Funke had initially proposed only national tests
on slaughtered cattle.
 |
| President Chirac also wants stiffer European
controls. |
But on Saturday,
Mr Funke - himself a farmer who has previously declared that German
beef was safe - said: "We now need BSE tests for cattle in
all of Europe".
"I'm
against unilateral moves because at the end of the day measures
are only effective when everyone takes them."
News of the
ban on feed containing animal matter was announced after a crisis
meeting of German government officials over the BSE outbreak.
Agriculture
Secretary of State Martin Wille said the ban would apply to feed
for all animals, including pigs and poultry as well as cattle
and sheep.
He said it
would take effect on Wednesday because this was the earliest date
that was legally possible.
Human variant
The disease
first emerged in the 1980s in the UK, where a human variant has
killed more than 80 people, but cases have now been reported in
Portugal, France and most recently Spain and Germany.
On Friday,
the German Agriculture Ministry announced the detection of the
first two cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in German-born
cows.
 |
| German labs have been inundated with test
requests. |
The discoveries
coincided with three new cases of BSE in France, where farmers
took to the streets to demand extra compensation for losses incurred
in the crisis.
A ministry
spokeswoman said a preliminary test on one cow from the northern
state of Schleswig-Holstein showed positive for BSE.
She said a
second animal exported from the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt
to the Azores was also found to have BSE in tests by Portuguese
authorities.
All cattle
and machinery on the farm in Schleswig-Holstein had been quarantined
until further notice.
|
