DATE=12-17-2000

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=AUSTRALIA/MAD COW (L-ONLY)

NUMBER=2-270563

BYLINE=PHIL MERCER

DATELINE=SYDNEY

INTERNET=

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: Australia has banned blood donations from thousands of residents who lived in Britain during the mad cow disease epidemic. As Phil Mercer reports from Sydney, concerns were raised after scientists suggested the human form of

the disease could be transmitted through blood transfusions.

TEXT: The ban covers anyone who spent more than six months in the United Kingdom between 1980 and 1996. It was during that period that Britain's mad cow panic was at its peak. New Zealand and the United States have both approved similar measures.

The Australian authorities decided to act after researchers in Scotland found there was a possibility the human form of mad cow disease - known as new variant CJD - could be passed on during blood transfusions. So far, there have been no reports of this happening but the Australians are taking no chances.

Chief Medical Officer - Doctor Richard Smallwood - says Australia's blood supply is among the safest in the world. He claims the decision to ban blood donations from thousands of former residents of Britain has the backing of the wider community. The impact of new variant CJD on British and other European victims has been well documented on radio and TV in Australia.

The disease can lie unnoticed for 20 years and leads to dementia and loss of muscle control before sufferers slip into a coma. It's been linked to the consumption of beef from cattle with bovine spongiform encephalopathy - also known as BSE or mad cow disease. In Britain dozens of people have died.

The move will affect as many as 30-thousand donors and could reduce supplies at blood banks across Australia by as much as five per cent. This has provoked concern by many doctors. Some are warning that non-urgent elective surgery may be cancelled because there's not enough blood to go round. Some surgeons have begun urging patients to donate their own blood before going into the hospital.

The Federal government is moving to calm fears of a blood crisis by funding a campaign by the Australian Red Cross to recruit new donors. The ban has been phased in over three months to reduce the impact on domestic supplies. (Signed)

NEB/PM/PFH