Suspected Mad Cow Disease May Harm French Exports

A suspected case of mad cow disease in France could put French beef exports at risk. Bloomberg reports that testing of a carcass destined for human consumption detected a suspected case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE, known as mad cow disease. If confirmed, the BSE case would be the first in France since April of 2004. France currently holds a “negligible risk” status of BSE and risks losing that status if the case is confirmed, potentially closing some export markets. More than 185,000 BSE cases in cattle were confirmed in the European Union during the epidemic in the 1980s and 1990s. France is the biggest cattle producer in the European Union and exported the equivalent of $1.03 billion in beef last year.

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