FIFTYFOURTH CASE OF BSE IN ITALY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ROME 000607

SIPDIS

STATE PASS USDA FOR FAS/CMP/DLP/SINDELARE
CMP/GFD/RIEMENSCHNEIDER; CMP/COT/LBLUM
ITP/EAMED/MACKE/RICHEY
OFSTS/LHARBERT/APHIS/ATORRES
STATE PASS USTR
BRUSSELS ALSO FOR USEU
GENEVA FOR USTR, ALSO AGRICULTURE
MILAN FOR PRINCIPAL OFFICER
UNCLASSIFIED

PAGE 02 ROME 00607 01 OF 02 071617Z
FLORENCE FOR PRINCIPAL OFFICER
NAPLES FOR PRINCIPAL OFFICER

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAGR ETRD EU ETRD EU IT ITEAGR
SUBJECT: FIFTYFOURTH CASE OF BSE IN ITALY


1. ON FEBRUARY 5, ITALY'S HEALTH AUTHORITIES
REACTED TO THE FIRST SUSPECTED CASE OF THE
HUMAN VERSION OF MAD COW DISEASE, NEW VARIANT
CREUTZFELDT-JAKOB DISEASE (NVCJD). THE
PATIENT IS A 25 YEAR OLD SICILIAN WOMAN FROM
TRAPANI. ITALY'S MINISTER OF HEALTH GIROLAMO
SIRCHIA AND THE MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE
GIANNI ALEMANNO BOTH APPEARED ON TELEVISION
NEWS WITH ASSERTIONS THAT MEAT IN ITALY IS
SAFE NOW, THAT THE SYSTEMS TO CHECK BSE ARE
IN PLACE AND ADEQUATE, AND THAT THIS INCIDENT
IS A CASE THAT HAS HAD A LONG INCUBATION
PERIOD. THE QUESTION OF THE DAY IS HOW THE
ITALIAN PUBLIC WILL RECEIVE THESE MESSAGES.
ITALIANS' LEVEL OF TRUST IN GOVERNMENT AND
GOI EFFORTS TO ASSURE THE PUBLIC THAT IT IS
SAFEGUARDING HEALTH, MAY SUFFER FROM THIS
DEVELOPMENT.


2. THERE CERTAINLY IS THE POSSIBILITY THAT
THE AFFLICTED WOMAN CONTRACTED THE DISEASE
FROM MEAT CONSUMED IN ITALY. GOI STATEMENTS
FOCUS ON THE FACT THAT THE CONTAGION MIGHT
HAVE BEEN PRESENT IN ITALY AT A TIME WHEN NEW
UNCLASSIFIED

PAGE 03 ROME 00607 01 OF 02 071617Z
VARIANT CREUTZFELDT-JAKOB WAS UNKNOWN AND
PRECAUTIONS NOW TAKEN TO CONTROL THE DISEASE
IN CATTLE HAD NOT YET BEEN TAKEN. THE FIRST
ITALIAN COW TESTING POSITIVE TO BOVINE
SPONGIFORM ENCEPHALOPATHY (BSE) WAS
DISCOVERED IN JANUARY, 2001. TESTING IN
ITALY HAS BEEN OBLIGATORY SINCE THEN.


3. THE AFFLICTED WOMAN SUSPECTED AS ITALY'S
FIRST HUMAN CASE OF NVCJD WAS ADMITTED TO THE
HOSPITAL ABOUT ONE MONTH AGO. HER DIAGNOSIS
WAS CONFIRMED BY TESTS CONDUCTED AT THE
LONDON COLLEGE OF MEDICINE, BUT ONLY POST
MORTEM TESTS ARE CONCLUSIVE IN CASES OF
NVCJD, WHICH IS CONSIDERED FATAL. IF THE
ITALIAN PATIENT SUCCUMBS TO WHAT TURNS OUT TO
BE NVCJD, THIS WILL BE THE FIRST CONFIRMED
HUMAN CASE TO HAVE OCCURRED IN ITALY.
ALTHOUGH OTHER SUSPECTED CASES HAVE BEEN
REPORTED PREVIOUSLY IN THE ITALIAN PRESS,
NONE HAVE BEEN CONFIRMED. SINCE ITS
DISCOVERY IN 1986, APPROXIMATELY 100 DEATHS,
MORE THAN NINETY FIVE PERCENT OF WHICH HAVE
OCCURRED IN THE UNITED KINGDOM, HAVE BEEN
CONFIRMED FROM THE DISEASE.


4. SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE SUPPORTS A CAUSAL
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BSE AND NVCJD BUT LITTLE
IS KNOWN ABOUT THE INCUBATION PERIOD BETWEEN
EXPOSURE TO THE INFECTIVE AGENT AND THE
EMERGENCE OF SYMPTOMS. PARTICULARLY IN ITALY,
UNCLASSIFIED

PAGE 04 ROME 00607 01 OF 02 071617Z
MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT BSE AND CONFUSION OF THE
DISEASE WITH THE UNRELATED FOOT AND MOUTH
DISEASE (FMD) IN CATTLE, CONTRIBUTE TO PUBLIC
SUSCEPTIBILITY TO SENSATIONAL JOURNALISM ON
ANIMAL DISEASE AND ITS CONNECTIONS TO HUMAN
HEALTH. ITALIANS DO NOT HAVE A WELL GROUNDED
TRUST IN THEIR AUTHORITIES AND THEY ARE NOT
INCLINED TO TURN TO THE GOI TO BRING THEM
RELIABLE INFORMATION. BY WAY OF CONTRAST, IN
THE U.S. RECENT SCIENTIFIC INFORMATION
INCLUDING THE CONCLUSIONS OF THE HARVARD RISK
ASSESSMENT ON BSE, IS PUBLISHED ON THE
WEBSITES OF THE CENTER FOR DISEASE CONTROL,
THE FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, AND THE US
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, ALL OF WHICH ARE
FREQUENTLY USED BY THE PUBLIC.


5. THE FIRST CASES OF MAD COW IN ITALY WERE
DISCOVERED IN 1994 IN IMPORTED CATTLE. THESE
CASES WERE FOUND IN TRAPANI WHEN TWO COWS
AMONG A HERD IMPORTED FROM BRITAIN WERE FOUND
TO TEST
POSITIVE TO BSE ALTHOUGH THE HERD

UNCLASSIFIED

UNCLASSIFIED PTQ7476

PAGE 01 ROME 00607 02 OF 02 071616Z
ACTION EUR-00

INFO LOG-00 AID-00 CEA-01 CIAE-00 COME-00 CTME-00 DODE-00
ITCE-00 SRPP-00 EB-00 EXME-00 E-00 UTED-00 VC-00
FRB-00 H-01 TEDE-00 INR-00 IO-00 ITC-01 L-00
AC-01 NSAE-00 NSCE-00 OES-01 OIC-02 OMB-01 OPIC-01
ACE-00 SP-00 SSO-00 SS-00 STR-00 TEST-00 TRSE-00
USIE-00 SNIS-00 NISC-00 DRL-02 G-00 SAS-00 /011W
-------------- 638FF2 071616Z /38
R 071553Z FEB 02
FM AMEMBASSY ROME
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 2014
USDA FAS WASHDC 1996
EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE
USMISSION GENEVA
AMCONSUL MILAN
AMCONSUL FLORENCE
AMCONSUL NAPLES

UNCLAS SECTION 02 OF 02 ROME 000607

SIPDIS

STATE PASS USDA FOR FAS/CMP/DLP/SINDELARE
CMP/GFD/RIEMENSCHNEIDER; CMP/COT/LBLUM
ITP/EAMED/MACKE/RICHEY
OFSTS/LHARBERT/APHIS/ATORRES
STATE PASS USTR
BRUSSELS ALSO FOR USEU
GENEVA FOR USTR, ALSO AGRICULTURE
MILAN FOR PRINCIPAL OFFICER
FLORENCE FOR PRINCIPAL OFFICER
UNCLASSIFIED

PAGE 02 ROME 00607 02 OF 02 071616Z
NAPLES FOR PRINCIPAL OFFICER

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAGR ETRD EU ETRD EU IT ITEAGR
SUBJECT: FIFTYFOURTH CASE OF BSE IN ITALY

WAS SEIZED, SOME ANIMALS WERE STOLEN AND
PRESUMABLY ILLEGALLY SLAUGHTERED. PERHAPS
RIGHTLY SO, THIS HAS RAISED JOURNALISTS'
QUESTIONS ABOUT THE GOI'S ABILITY TO ENFORCE
THEIR CONTROLS. IN ITALY TO DATE 541,233 BSE
TESTS HAVE BEEN CONDUCTED ON CATTLE. SINCE
THE BEGINNING OF 2001, 54 CASES OF BSE, OR
MAD COW DISEASE, HAVE BEEN DETECTED IN
ITALIAN CATTLE. SEMBLER

UNCLASSIFIED

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2002ROME00607 - Classification: UNCLASSIFIED