[Confusion surrounding bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and the risk of new variant Creutzfeldt Jakob disease].

There is a lot of confusing news regarding the risks of consuming beef for contracting variant Creutzfeldt Jakob disease. Bureaucratic inertia and political expediency are fueled by the lack of pathogenetic and epidemiologic understanding of the mode of transmission. Consumers discard beef from their diet, which may be the least contaminated tissue, but other meat products, of which the risks are probably much higher, continue to enjoy free international trade and may be used in the human diet. British beef may be less harmful than French sausage. In addition, criminal and fraudulent practices pose a considerable threat to which an appropriate political answer has yet to be formulated.