IberiaNature A guide to the natural history of Spain
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Mad Cows Disease in Spain

See also Cows in Spain + Autochthonous breeds of cows in Spain

June 2005 latest news: 42 cases of mad cows in Spain this year so far (agroinformacion)

On 22nd November 2000, the then-PP government announced the first two cases of BSE in Spain: a cow named Parrula from a farm in Lugo, and another named Elvira in La Coruña. A month earlier, the government had proclaimed Spain safe from the disease. The result was nationwide hysteria whipped up by the mass media and a huge drop in beef sales. Over the next three years the numbers of cases rose, reaching a peak of 173 in 2003, and falling this year to 80 so far. Meanwhile, within a year the panic had died down, and beef sales quietly increased, despite the rise in cases.

Cows affected by BSE in Spain 2000-2004 (until 23 Nov 2004): Total: 492

Province

Number of cases

Lugo

71

A Coruña

48

Asturias

43

Pontevedra

43

Zamora

31

León

29

Girona

26

Baleares

20

Salamanca

20

Cantabria

18

Ávila

16

Navarra

16

Palencia

12

Barcelona

12

Cáceres

12

Ourense

12

Lleida

7

Huesca

6

Toledo

6

Burgos

5

Valladolid

5

Segovia

5

Madrid

5

Córdoba

4

Teruel

3

Badajoz

3

Las Palmas

2

Soria

2

Guipuzcoa

2

Huelva

1

Sevilla

1

Albacete

1

Valencia

1

La Rioja

1

Murcia

1

BSE cases in the EU (until July 2004)

 

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

Total

Belgium

0

0

1

6

3

9

46

38

15

8

126

Germany

0

0

2

0

0

7

125

106

56

39

335

Spain

0

0

0

0

0

2

82

127

173

80

464

France

3

12

6

18

31

162

277

239

138

35

921

Ireland

16

74

80

83

95

149

242

329

185

71

1324

Italy

0

0

0

0

0

0

50

25

31

6

112

Holland

0

0

2

2

2

2

20

24

19

4

75

Portugal

0

31

30

127

159

150

113

86

133

52

896

United Kingdom

14562

8149

4393

3235

2301

1441

1196

912

607

211

37007

Source: DG SANCO. European Commission + El País newspaper

 

 

 

 

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