"EU beef pledge based on 'flawed' BSE test"
The BSE test that is supposed to protect the public
    against "mad cow" disease has never been properly
    validated, an investigation by The Independent has
    discovered. 

    Bruno Oesch, the executive director of Prionics, the
    Swiss maker of the most widely used BSE test, said his
    company did not have the resources to conduct such
    elaborate research. 

    After the "validation" by the JRC last year, Prionics
    issued a press statement saying its test had a "100 per
    cent success rate". However, Dr Oesch said this only
    referred to tests on animals with obvious signs of BSE.
    "No test ever can give a guarantee. It's biochemically
    impossible to reach 100 per cent," he said. 
 
    When samples from 4,000 British cattle over 30 months
    old were analysed by the Prionics test, it emerged that it
    was only capable of spotting cases of BSE just before
    symptoms appear, according to Professor John
    Wilesmith of the Government's Central Veterinary
    Laboratory in Weybridge, Surrey. "What is being
    proposed by the Commission is really quite worrying.
    The tests only pull out animals in the very late stages of
    incubation," Professor Wilesmith said.

    By Steve Connor, Science Editor 
    6 December 2000 
    "The Independent" - English broadsheet

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