Although Britain maintains export records, meat could be sent to one country, processed, relabelled and then moved on, Ricketts said. WHO and other UN agencies have agreed to review the scientific evidence linked to BSE and CJD, including infection estimates, abattoir and slaughter practices, how humans are exposed and disposal of material which may be infected. Cases of variant CJD are rare - 87 cases in Britain, three in France and one in Ireland. If the disease were discovered in a developing country, the economic effects could be even more disastrous, she said. Like BSE, first diagnosed in 1986, it is a poorly understood condition that attacks the brain, leaving it full of holes like a bath sponge.
Victims display symptoms of dementia, becoming unsteady and confused and losing their memory.
As the brain degenerates, they decline to a state where they cannot walk, talk or look after themselves. There is no known cure. Local vet called to farm in Kent to examine a cow behaving oddly. Later judged to have been the first case of BSE in Britain. Nov 1986 First official diagnosis of BSE, the neurodegenerative condition characterised by holes in the brain.