It is a sheep from Upper Franconia. The animal was examined as part of a TSE monitoring. The Federal Research Center for Virus Diseases in Animals has clearly demonstrated TSE-typical prion protein in the sheep.
Last year, the Product Council spent a total of 17,5 million euros on intervention measures on the pork market, compared to an average of 10,3 million euros in previous years. In 2003, subsidies totaling 68 million euros flowed from the agricultural budget into the pig sector, which were mainly paid out to farmers in the form of quality supplements.
From January to September 2003, Russia obtained 129.400 tons of beef from the EU member states, a decrease of almost 37 percent compared to the same period in the previous year. Germany delivered 34.200 tons of this, around 60 percent less than before. In contrast, imports from the two largest supplier countries outside the EU increased: 22 percent came from Ukraine and even 340 percent more from Brazil.
In January, the German packing stations paid an average of EUR 12,73 per 100 for upscale branded eggs in weight class M, which was 1,09 cents less than in December, but the comparable figure for the previous year was exceeded by EUR 1,10. From December to January, the prices in the discount segment fell considerably more sharply, for the same weight class by 1,79 euros to an average of 7,34 euros per 100 items. However, the suppliers still got 1,26 euros more than in the first month of 2003. For Dutch eggs in weight class M, the January average was 6,81 euros per 100 pieces, which is also 1,79 euros lower than in the previous month, but by 1,18 , XNUMX euros higher than a year ago.
After martens and raccoons made the headlines a few years ago, foxes and wild boars are currently the most talked about, as they make their home in the extensive green spaces of large cities and on the outskirts. While wild boars roam entire front gardens in search of food, the fox is feared as a carrier of diseases such as rabies or fox tapeworm, and humans generally do not want to get too close. Let alone accommodate a whole fox family in your garden, which is now not uncommon even in metropolises. Wild animals often change their behavior in their new environment: The naturally very shy wild boars, for example, increasingly lose their fear of humans and sometimes even approach them.
The catastrophic economic situation of the pig farmers can also be seen in the result of a model calculation of the gross margin (revenue minus costs for feed and piglets) for the past year: When comparing costs and revenues, the average for 2003 for companies with a medium level of performance is only A gross margin of EUR 10,30 per pig was reported, which means that profitability fell for the third year in a row. For the month of December only an amount of minus 6,50 euros per animal is calculated; the slaughtering proceeds could not even cover the cost of feed and piglets. A gross margin of around 23 to 25 euros per pig is necessary. Because from this all other costs, e.g. for water, energy, buildings, machines, wages and others, have to be settled.
Thick vegetable onions end up in the shopping basket only to a small extent: in 2002 it was an average of 0,11 kilograms per household. The vegetable onions come almost exclusively from Spain and are mainly used by bulk consumers, in processing and in gastronomy.
There were large differences in the number of diseases across Europe. In the Russian Federation, the incidence rate is five times higher than in Scandinavia or France. In general, illnesses are higher in Central and Eastern Europe, such as Portugal, Italy and Spain. However, mortality is falling in all countries. Between 1980 and 1999 it fell within the EU from 18,6 per 100.000 population to 9,8. In Eastern Europe there was a decrease from 27,1 to 16,1 and in the Russian Federation from 51,6 to 32,2 (1998). Senior scientist Fabio Levi of the Institut Universitaire de médecine sociale et preventive [http://www.imsp.ch] said that if this trend continues, there will be up to 15.000 fewer deaths this decade.
Bärbel Höhn: Minister for Consumer Protection and Agriculture in North Rhine-Westphalia, Greens; Prof. Dr. Alexander S. Kekulé: Institute for Medical Microbiology in Halle; Dr. Thilo Bode: CEO of "food watch", ex-Greenpeace boss; Dr. Eberhard Haunhorst: Head of the "Task Force" disease control.