Brussels, 24/04/2001 (Agence Europe) - Commissioner Philippe Busquin presented the press on Monday with the state of European research into transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, including BSE, on the basis of the inventory of national research activities drawn up by a group of scientific experts set up by the European Commission to respond to a request made by the Research Council of 16 November. This inventory, which may be consulted on the Internet (http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/research/press_en ), identifies the strengths and weaknesses of European research in the matter.
Mr. Busquin explained that this document demonstrated the need to improve complementarity and coherence in European research efforts. He recalled that the Commission had already taken several initiatives in this field of research, notably through the action plan on TSE, with a budget of 50 million euro, launched in 1996. By the end of May, the Commission is to open a further call for proposals with an envelop of 25 million euro. Projects selected will be on diagnosis, and must respond to the needs identified in the inventory regarding prion samples, animal models and cell lines (used in research), as well as researcher training.
EUROPE recalls that from 1987 to 2000, almost 180,000 cattle were affected in the United Kingdom, against 1,325 cases so far detected in the rest of Europe (manly Ireland, Portugal and France). 101 human cases of the new variant Creutzfeld-Jacob disease, 97 of which in the United Kingdom, 3 in France and 1 in Ireland.