Aust Vet J Vol 80, No 10, October 2002594

News

In August, Poland was forced to reportits second case of BSE and Germanyits 200th. For Poland, the find was a

cause of considerable anxiety for its cash-starved cattle industry. And it nowappears that the European livestockindustry has utterly failed its test ofmorals since 1996. Instead of doing what is right and legal –enforcing the ban on bovine-originmaterial in ruminant feed – the stuff wasdumped in foreign countries for the little

money it could bring. It seems that cattlein former eastern-bloc countries did notalways feed on meagre but clean pasture, aswe had hoped, but on tainted feedimported from Britain and other countries.Poland and its neighbours have only juststarted to test their animals. There is noknowing what will come up. Germany diagnosed its index BSE case on26 November 2000. Since then, more than4 million rapid tests have been conductedat slaughter. In August this year the 200th

case was detected. BSE will continue tohaunt the country for some time to come.Meanwhile, the northern fringe of Europeis counting its blessings. Norway andSweden do not have a single case, and theonly Finnish case, recorded in Decemberlast year, appears to be an anomaly. Goodnews is also heard from the UK wherescientists are scaling down the mostpessimistic predictions of expected vCJDprevalence. It seems that the nightmaremight just go away.

BSE update

Be not fooled to think that Europe is united and all partsof it are similar. Diversity, not only between Europeancountries but within the very core of the EU, never

ceases to baffle. Take bovine brucellosis for instance. The EUhas embarked on a mission to eradicate the disease. Abouttime, we think in northern Europe, where brucellosis waseradicated over 50 years ago, along with a number of otheranimal diseases.A contrast is given by Greece. Of the country’s 300,000 cattlefarms, most are now involved in a program of testing andslaughter. The pace is not dizzying. The vaccinations have beenstopped and 80 per cent compliance is expected by 2003. The European authorities are concerned about the slacknessand demand that all member states deliver plans foreradication. Countries such as Spain, France, Italy andPortugal have not delivered. Ireland looks more promising. Yetone is not impressed, considering that such enormous cattlecountries as Australia and Canada managed to eradicate thedisease.Ovine and caprine brucellosis are likely to remain long inGreece. The structure of the country’s goat business has a moreAsian than European outlook. There are over 12 million goatsand sheep used for milk production. They are hand-milked.Hygiene is often poor – the animals roam freely as in the timesof Ulysses and Agamemnon. Understandably, this situation isconducive to the spread of animal diseases, and concernsGreece’s neighbours and the whole of the EU.The north-south contrast is a source of many jokes in EUmeetings. We northerners are punctual, exact, brief andboring. We deliver results after a mere hint. True teacher’s pets,they must think in the more relaxed south.

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Mysterious visit from the tropicsSwiss veterinarians are totally baffled about the entry ofanaplasmosis in the canton of Graubünden. The disease killed26 cows and gravely affected a herd of 300 until the diagnosisof the blood parasite was achieved. The first cases were seen inJuly but more serious efforts to diagnose the disease were only

attempted in August when cattle started to die in largernumbers and a third of the herd became anaemic and febrile.Treatment with antiparasitic drugs and blood transfusions wasruled out and the veterinary authorities opted for culling tohalt the mystery outbreak. The farmer objected and took thematter to court and it is to be taken up this month. Anaplasmamarginale has never before been detected in Europe, let alonein cool and mountainous Switzerland. An old acquaintance ofmine from Central America, it is a common bovine plague oftropical and subtropical climates. Nobody knows how itarrived in Switzerland. Veterinarians are feverishly trying totrace any potential contacts.

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... and another old acquaintance revisitsIn 1988, phocine distemper virus, a close relative of the caninedistemper virus, appeared near the island of Anholt, Denmark.It rapidly spread to other countries lining the shores of theNorth Sea and killed about 18,000 common seals and asmaller number of other seals. The virus also infectedunvaccinated dogs.In August this killer came back. Again, it made its firstappearance at Anholt. And again it has spread to the coasts ofthe Netherlands, Belgium, Norway, Denmark and Sweden. Bythe end of August the casualty count was over 3500 and rising.There is not much people can do except follow the emergenceof the outbreak and clean up the mess on the shores.

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Slow progress insouthern Europe

Letter fromEuropeby Jouko Koppinen