The first cases of BSE were seen in British cattle in 1986. In a new agricultural process, these livestock had been fed recycled sheep byproduct from lamb slaughterhouses that had been heat treated to prevent infection by bacteria. However, this heat sterilization proved inadequate to disable a previously unknown infectious agent called a prion found in sheep suffering from a disease called scrapie. Prions are neither a living organism nor a virus, but a misshapen protein that can convert other proteins to their deadly form merely by touching them.
A decade passed before the prion-scrapie-BSE-vCJD connection was fully established and understood. By that time, 180,000 British cattle had died of BSE they had contracted from eating sheep, and around 150 people had died of vCJD they had contracted from eating cattle. Over 3.7 million British cattle were torched in pits to bring the outbreak under control. Economic impact on the British beef industry was devastating as their product was quarantined throughout the world. Nevertheless, BSE has spread to herds in Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain and Switzerland. Most recently, an isolated outbreak of BSE occurred in Canada.
Today’s announcement by the USDA marks the first time a BSE-infected animal had been found inside the United States. Some critics have said there had not been a U.S. BSE case because U.S. cattle are slaughtered so young that they do not have a chance to develop symptoms. USDA quarantine efforts in Washington State are underway, as are efforts to trace where the afflicted animal was sold.
“Despite this finding, we remain confident in the safety of our beef supply,” Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman said. “The risk to human health from BSE is extremely low.”
U.S. beef remains “absolutely safe to eat,” according to Veneman, who notes, “We see no reason for people to alter their eating habits. I plan to serve beef for my Christmas dinner.”
Consumers may obtain daily updates from USDA by reading the department’s Web site or by calling 1-866-4USDACOM.