What has the British government done in response to the BSE epidemic?
In response to the BSE epidemic, the British Government instituted a series of measures to minimize the risk of disease transmission among both animals and humans. These included a ban on feeding ruminant protein (ruminants are animals, such as cows, sheep and goats) to ruminants (1988), removal of some “high risk” materials (such as brain, spinal cord and intestines) from cattle at slaughter (1989 and 1995), and a ban on cattle over 30 months of age from being used for food (1996). Following institution of these measures, Great Britain has seen a decrease in the number of cattle with BSE from a peak incidence of 36,682 confirmed cases in 1992 to 1044 confirmed in 2002. Does BSE occur in the US? According to the Animal Health and Plant Inspection Service (APHIS) of the United States Department of Agriculture, BSE has been detected in one cow in the United States. Following complications of pregnancy this cow was slaughtered December 9, 2003. As part of the APHIS ongoing surveillance of
