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"Mad Cow Disease" or Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy
(BSE)
On December 23, 2003
Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman announced that the U.S. Department
of Agriculture had diagnosed a presumptive positive case of Bovine
Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) in an adult Holstein cow in the state of
Washington. Mad Cow Disease is the layperson's name for Bovine
Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), a transmissible, slowly progressive,
degenerative, fatal disease affecting the central nervous system of
adult cattle.
Although BSE is a
disease that affects cattle, there is a disease similar to BSE called
variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD or vCJD), which is found in
humans. There is strong scientific evidence (epidemiological and
laboratory) that the agent that causes BSE in cattle is the agent that
causes vCJD in people.
Following are links
to information about "Mad Cow Disease" and related topics.
Government
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
The Animal and Plant
Health Inspections Service (APHIS), as part of the USDA, is responsible
for the safety of certain meat and poultry products as well as animal
health. It is the lead agency in the investigation of this BSE case.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
The FDA's primary
responsibility in the Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE)
investigation involves animal feed, which most experts believe is the
main way in which the disease is amplified throughout cattle herds. BSE
does not spread naturally from adult cow to adult cow. The Agency has
dispatched teams of investigators to trace back and trace forward the
potential involvement of any FDA-regulated commodities.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
The CDC monitors the
trends and current incidence of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) in the
United States. CJD is the form that BSE takes in humans. Its Web site
includes an updated
fact sheet on the rare, degenerative, fatal brain disorder, CJD and
a new variant, vCJD.
Media
CNN
In addition to
current information, this Web site includes a
CNN in-depth special, compiled several years ago, that focuses on
BSE in the United Kingdom.
NOVA Online, PBSThis is the
companion Web site to the NOVA program "The Brain Eater," broadcast in
the late nineties. The program retraces the scientific sleuthing that
linked Mad Cow Disease in cattle to a related brain disease in humans.
It includes teachers' resources and an extensive list of resources
related to the science of BSE.
Miscellaneous
BSEinfo.org is a Web site of
the National Cattlemen's Beef Association
(NCBA), a United States beef industry trade organization.
Consumers UnionThe publisher of
Consumer Reports suggests ways to limit your risk.
How Stuff Works
This edition of How Stuff Works looks at Mad Cow Disease – what it is,
how it works, the consequences for humans, and control and prevention
measures.
Organic Consumers Association (OCA)
The Organic
Consumers Association (OCA) is a grassroots, non-profit, public interest
organization that deals with crucial issues of food safety, industrial
agriculture, genetic engineering, corporate accountability, and
environmental sustainability. This site includes a list of articles
reviewed/commented upon by Michael Greger, MD.
Articles
To identify articles of interest, search
iCONN, the Connecticut
Digital Library, which provides access to articles from hundreds of
magazines and newspapers.
To search The Hartford Courant
and/or several other newspapers, scroll down and choose the Hartford
Courant (ProQuest) or iCONN Newsstand.
To search magazines, scroll down and choose General Reference Center
Gold, InfoTrac OneFile, and/or Health and Wellness Resource Center.
Print Resources
In addition to
numerous magazines and newspapers in its collection, the Library has
books containing information on BSE. The following two titles are
specific to the subject. | 
