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BBC
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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