I'll Have the Beef...
The weird thing about the health panic rampaging across Europe is that it has
almost nothing to do with the prevalence of the health risk itself. Only three
people in continental Europe are known to have died from the human variant of
bovine spongiform encephalopathy in the last decade. Despite the recent rise in
the number of bovine cases, the chances of encountering a mad cow on the
Continent are tiny: since 1990 the incidence of bse in cows in Europe is fewer
than 2,000, compared to 180,000 in Britain. And yet across Europe, beef
consumption has plunged 27% in the last three months; in Germany it has been
cut in half. This is an epidemic propelled by fear, and governments aren't
immune. Ridiculed for their attempts to downplay the threat last year, German
authorities last week pledged to buy, slaughter and bury 400,000 cows in an
effort to rid the country of the disease. Full Story...