FOR many years, it has been known that sheep are infected with scrapie yet we eat lamb and mutton with impunity. Why then is scrapie thought to be responsible for BSE?
Surely, if this is so, humans could, in theory, be infected from eating lamb? Could scrapie be responsible for BSE and its human form, CJD, or, conversely, it may not be responsible for either?
A link has never been proven between the consumption of infected meat and CJD.
Media coverage has led to many fears about the safety of British beef. This has caused over-reaction worldwide and has led to the unnecessary banning of beef exports.
This begs the question of who will benefit from this? I leave readers to answers that.
KATRIONA BOYLE, French Close, Blackburn.
Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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