BSE Anatomy of A Crisis - bovine spongiform encephalopathy - Statistical Data Included

Choices: The Magazine of Food, Farm and Resource Issues, Spring, 2001 by Jean C. Buzby, Linda R. Detwiler

To dare, the U.S. has not been directly affected by BSE, as there have been no BSE or vCJD confirmed cases in the U.S. However, the U.S. has been indirectly affected. Active efforts to prevent its introduction into this country continue. Recently, the media alleged that some U.S. firms may not have followed FDA feed ban requirements. These accounts have likely increased U.S. consumer concerns about BSE.

Piling On: Foot-and-Mouth

On the heels of the BSE crisis, the U.K. has been hard hit by an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD; also called hoof-and-mouth disease), an animal disease unrelated to BSE. FMD is a highly contagious and economically devastating disease of cattle and swine. It also affects sheep and other cloven-hoofed ruminants. The first FMD case in this outbreak was confirmed in February 2001. Since then there have been over 1,100 confirmed cases in the U.K.; cases have recently been identified in the Netherlands. The U.K. is struggling to control further spread of FMD by destroying all animals on infected farms and by restricting the movement of other farm animals. Although FMD does not affect food safety or humans, this outbreak has fueled renewed consumer concerns about the safety of the food supply and is imposing high economic costs to U.K. farm, tourism, and retail sectors.

Current Research: What's Happening and What Is Needed

The U.S. government has contracted with Harvard University to perform a BSE risk assessment. Other issues requiring research include domestic and international quarantines, compensation and eradication programs, science and policy decisions, consumer acceptance and behavior, and the economic impacts on farm and food sectors such as renderers, slaughter firms, and beef processors.

This crisis challenges U.S. and international policymakers, scientists, and other interested parties to understand this complicated disease and minimize its impact through sound prevention and mitigation strategies.

Jean Buzby is an agricultural economist with the Diet, Safety and Health Economics Branch of the Economic Research Service. Linda Detwiler (not pictured) is on the Veterinary Services Emergency Programs staff of the Animal Plant and Health Inspection Service. She coordinates BSE surveillance and prevention.

The views expressed in this article do not necessarily rep resent those of the U.S. Department of Agriculture or the U.S. Government.

For more Information

Atkinson, N. "The Impact of BSE on the U.K. Economy." Paper presented to the 1st Symposium on Animal and Human TSEs, Buenos Aires, August 11, 1999, under the auspices of the Instituto Interamericano de Cooperacion Para La Agricultura.

http://www.iica.org.ar/Bse/14 Atkinson.html, accessed 6/1/00.

Lorains, J.W., C. Henry, D.A. Agbamu, M. Rossi, M. Bishop, R.G. Will, and J.W. Ironside. "Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease in an Elderly Patient." The Lancet. 357(April 28, 2001):1339-40.

Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food, United Kingdom. "MAFF BSE Information: Beef Industry." http://www/maff.gov/uk/animalh/bse/market-support/market-support-inde x.htm