Baltics ban Danish beef after outbreak

TALLINN – There are few scarier scenarios than coming down with the illness associated with bovine spongiform encephalopathy – the scientific name for mad cow disease. After Denmark reported on Feb. 28 that it had discovered an outbreak of the deadly disease, the Baltic nations were quick to take action.

The 4-year-old cow was suffering spasms – a symptom of mad cow disease. The animal, born and raised in Denmark, was immediately slaughtered while the rest of the 70-head milk herd was put under observation. The cow's head was sent to laboratories in Denmark and Britain, which confirmed it had the disease.

Within days, Lithuania, followed by Latvia and Estonia, banned all imports of beef, live cattle, certain kinds of fodder and any beef products coming out of Denmark.

According to Estonia's import regulations, only countries which have been free of BSE for five years are free to import meat into Estonia, said Ago Partel, head of the country's Veterinary and Food Inspectorate. The United Kingdom, Ireland, Switzerland, Portugal, the Netherlands and France have all been prohibited from importing meat into Estonia for years, Partel said.

"The first measure taken is to protect the territory from diseased countries," said Partel, noting that Estonia has so far not experienced any cases of BSE.

Partel explained that the question whether to remove Danish meat from supermarket shelves was a moot point, as Estonia imports mainly pork from Denmark, but the government's action was still necessary to prevent any potential risks to the brain-wasting disease.

Latvia has also not found any outbreaks of mad cow disease. A ban on meat from Denmark will remain in place for at least six months, said Ernest Zavadski, head of Latvia's Food Control Division.

For Lithuania, the main concern with imported beef has been salmonella, said Kristina Stakyte, veterinary officer at the Border and Transport State Veterinary Service.

Stakyte confirmed Lithuania has never detected BSE in its territory.

Norway has also banned all beef imports from Denmark, while Sweden removed Danish meat products from its retail grocery shelves. Finland has so far treated the case as a solitary incident.

The lone diseased cow was detected in a herd in the northern part of the Jutland peninsula, which has the largest cattle population in Denmark with 364,000 heads in 1998.

Denmark's only previous known incident of BSE was in Aug. 1992 when an imported Scottish highland cow was found to have contracted the disease.

Britain, the European country hit worst by BSE, has registered some 180,000 cases of the disease.

Panic swept Europe in the late 1980s and early 1990s after British-raised cattle contracted BSE and it was linked to the dementia-inducing fatal disorder in humans, Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease. The European Union ruled in August that British beef was again safe for import, although France has maintained its ban.

The illness has a latency period of up to seven years, and its early warning signs include personality changes, depression, insomnia, withdrawal, fearfulness and paranoia, according to the Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease Foundation's home page.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.