All articles tagged with #bse
The ban on mechanically separated beef in the U.S. was primarily due to concerns over Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (Mad Cow Disease), which can be transmitted to humans through contaminated meat. Despite the scare, actual cases of vCJD in the U.S. are extremely rare, with only four confirmed cases, all linked to exposure abroad. The regulation aims to prevent potential outbreaks, but the overall risk to Americans remains very low.
Mad cow disease, caused by prions, emerged in the 1980s, leading to a ban on British meat imports and the culling of millions of cattle. The disease, which can be transmitted to humans through contaminated meat, resulted in variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) and raised concerns about potential future cases. While the outbreak changed meat industry practices and led to blood donation restrictions, only a small number of vCJD cases have been reported. Prions also pose a threat in other animals, such as chronic wasting disease in deer, with potential implications for public health.
An atypical case of "mad cow disease" has been detected in a beef cow at a slaughter plant in South Carolina, according to US health officials. However, the US Department of Agriculture has said that the animal "never entered slaughter channels and at no time presented a risk to the food supply or to human health in the United States". The US has a "negligible risk status" for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), and officials do not expect any trade impacts as a result of this finding.
An abandoned factory in Kent, UK, which was used to destroy cattle infected with Mad Cow Disease, still contains dangerous molecules that could threaten human life if released. The molecules are incredibly difficult to destroy and can incubate for several years, posing a risk to human life if people mistakenly spread the disease from the abandoned complex. Experts have recommended that nobody ever build on the site, and if such a thing happened in an urban environment where people already lived, they should tarmac it over completely.