US embassy cable - 02ROME607

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, IT 
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