WHERE did BSE come from? We still don’t know, and may never know for sure.
But the odds are that it arose by chance—which means that it could happen
again, any time and anywhere.
The Phillips report discounts the popularly held theory that BSE arose when
cattle became infected with a spongiform brain disease from sheep. However, many
scientists are sceptical about this conclusion. The British government appears
to share these reservations, as ministers have ordered a review of the current
knowledge on the origins of BSE.
The report rejects the notion that the scrapie prion infected cattle eating…
