Officials said the moves were purely precautions against bovine spongiform encephalopathy, which has been linked to a strand of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, which affects humans. The European Union urged member countries to go beyond a recent requirement that they randomly test their herds by January. The requirement was put in place after the number of cases of mad cow disease tripled in France to 90 this year.
French authorities say the increase is due to the implementation of special detection tests.
Two people are known to have died in France from Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, compared with 81 people in Britain. The ban affects all beef, not just French imports. The Swiss Red Cross announced it was barring blood donations from people who spent more than six months in Britain between 1980 and 1996. He stressed that the measure was precautionary. Schwabe said it likely will involve no more than 2,000 people.