Germany to Mass Kill Likely BSE-Infected Cattle

Germany to Mass Kill Likely BSE-Infected Cattle

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The German government decided Wednesday to slaughter up to 400,000 head of cattle as part of the European Union's efforts to overcome the crisis of the mad cow disease.

Cattle, especially aged ones, will be bought from farmers at four Deutsche marks (US$1.89) per kilogram and the total cost for the slaughtering and destruction of possible BSE- contaminated beef will run up to 647 million DM (US$306 million) for governments at various levels.

Government officials believe that farmers will be supportive of the action because their farms are already full of grown-up cattle.

Since cases of BSE-infected cattle from German farms were reported two months ago, the business in German slaughtering houses has dropped by 50 percent due sluggish sales both at home and abroad.

To include the cost in destroying fodder made of animal parts, which is suspected of being the cause for the BSE disease, the total bill for Germany in tackling the crisis is estimated at 2.1 billion DM (US$995 million), including 500 million DM (US$237 million) as additional payment for EU-wide efforts.

The EU commission has called on member countries to kill 1.5 million head of cattle to eliminate the mad cow disease.