What is BSE?
How is BSE spread?
What systems are in place to prevent future cases of BSE in the United States?
How do we search for BSE in this country's cattle?
Why doesn't the United States test every animal as is done in other countries?
Can humans get mad cow disease?
Does BSE pose a risk to human health?
What is the difference between BSE, sporadic CJD and vCJD?
Is U.S. beef safe?
What safeguards are in place to protect the U.S. beef supply?
In what type of beef is BSE found?
What is the beef industry doing to protect the beef supply?
Is organic beef safer than conventionally produced beef?
Q: What is BSE?
Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), frequently called "mad cow" disease, is a degenerative neurological disease affecting the central nervous system (CNS) in cattle. BSE affects older cattle, typically more than 30 months of age. The vast majority of the cattle going to market in the United States are less than 24 months old.
Q: How is BSE spread?
BSE does not spread from animal to animal, or from animal to human, contact. BSE can only be transmitted through feed containing ruminant-derived meat and bone meal (MBM) from BSE-infected cattle. In 1997, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned the use of such ruminant-derived protein supplements in cattle feed. The feed ban breaks the cycle of BSE and, with full compliance, assures the disease will be eliminated. FDA reports feed ban compliance exceeds 99 percent, which is one of the highest levels of compliance of all its regulations.
Q: What systems are in place to prevent future cases of BSE in the United States?
The U.S. government, in partnership with industry, has worked for more than 15 years to build a system to protect animal and public health. In 1989, the United States began a series of bans on imports of animals or at-risk animal products from BSE countries. In 1997, it banned feeding practices that could spread the disease.
A multi-year risk analysis conducted by Harvard University reported, “Measures taken by the U.S. government and industry make the U.S. robust against the spread of BSE to animals or humans should it be introduced into this country.”
BSE Surveillance/Testing
Q: How do we search for BSE in this country’s cattle?
The United States has kept close watch on the nation’s cattle herd since 1990, when it began a surveillance program for BSE. The United States was the first country without the disease within its borders to test cattle for the disease. The approach is based on experience in Europe, which has shown that testing targeted, high risk cattle is the method most likely to identify BSE if it is present.
All U.S. cattle are inspected by a USDA inspector or veterinarian before going to slaughter, with high-risk animals identified for BSE testing. Meat from cattle being tested for BSE is held until the test results are confirmed. Animals targeted for BSE testing include those exhibiting signs of central nervous system disorder, non-ambulatory animals (those that can not walk), and animals exhibiting symptoms consistent with BSE that die on-farm. The program also focuses on cattle older than 30 months of age since research shows younger animals do not develop the disease.
USDA maintains an ongoing BSE surveillance program and currently tests approximately 40,000 high-risk cattle annually, a number that exceeds the OIE’s recommended testing levels. The ongoing BSE surveillance program is designed to detect BSE at a prevalence level of one case per 1 million adult cattle. In June 2004, USDA instituted a one-time expanded testing program to determine the incidence of BSE in the United States. From June 1, 2004 through Aug. 20, 2006, USDA tested 787,711 cattle and found two BSE positives (both in older cattle). As a result of this surveillance, the prevalence of BSE in the United States is estimated to be less than one infected animal per 1 million adult cattle.
Q: Why doesn’t the United States test every animal as is done in other countries?
Since 1990, USDA has used a comprehensive, science-based surveillance program to detect BSE in the United States. The number of tests the program performs greatly exceeds the level recommended by OIE (the World Animal Health Organization). Some European countries, as well as Japan, instituted extreme testing programs because their countries faced a BSE epidemic. Unlike the United States, these countries did not put preventive measures in place until late in 2000.
BSE and Human Health
Q: Can humans get mad cow disease?
Research from the United Kingdom supports an association between BSE and variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD). Variant CJD is a much different disease than sporadic CJD, often referred to simply as “CJD.” Variant CJD likely developed as a result of people consuming products contaminated with CNS tissue of BSE-infected cattle. The misfolded protein that causes BSE is primarily found in brain and spinal cord and in retina tissue.
Q: Does BSE pose a risk to human health?
Following an outbreak of BSE in the United Kingdom that resulted in about 184,000 confirmed cattle cases, research has found an association between BSE and the human disease, variant CJD. The disease likely developed as a result of people consuming products contaminated with CNS tissue, such as brain and spinal cord, from BSE-infected cattle. The number of deaths from definite and probable variant CJD cases as of December 2007 was 205, with 166 of those in the United Kingdom.
Q: What is the difference between BSE, sporadic CJD and vCJD?
BSE, sporadic CJD, and variant CJD are all Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (TSEs), which is a class of rare brain diseases, some of which affect humans while others affect animals. All TSEs are associated with the accumulation of abnormal prion proteins in the brain.
While BSE is found only in cattle, sporadic CJD and variant CJD are found in humans. Sporadic CJD and variant CJD are distinctly separate brain diseases, each with its own unique clinical and histopathological features. For example, the median age of patients with sporadic CJD in the United States is 68 years, and very few cases occur in persons under 30 years of age; in contrast, the median age of patients with variant CJD in the United Kingdom is 28 years.
Sporadic CJD was first identified in the 1920s, and is endemic throughout the world, including the United States. It has a worldwide incidence of approximately one case per million people each year. Variant CJD was first documented in the United Kingdom in 1996 and, as of December 2007, reports indicate there are 205 definite and probable cases worldwide, with 166 of those in the United Kingdom. No cases of vCJD have been connected to beef consumed in the United States. There are many unknowns about variant CJD, including method and amount of exposure, route of transmission and incubation period. However, significant steps have been taken in the United States to prevent exposure to the disease.
Food Safety
Q: Is U.S. beef safe?
Yes. U.S. beef remains the safest in the world. BSE infectivity is found primarily in central nervous system tissue such as brain and spinal cord. After the first U.S. case of BSE in December 2003, USDA and FDA took extra precautionary steps to prohibit from the food supply parts of the animal that could carry the BSE agent. Even if additional cases of BSE are discovered in the United States, scientists, medical professionals, and government officials agree that BSE is not a public health risk in this country.
Q: What safeguards are in place to protect the U.S. beef supply?
As far back as the late 1980s, the U.S. government and cattle industry took precautions to protect public and animal health. In 1996, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) launched a voluntary feed ban, which established an industry standard against feeding ruminant-derived MBM protein to cattle. In 1997, with our support, FDA made the ban mandatory. The feed ban breaks the cycle of BSE and, with full compliance, assures the disease will be eliminated. FDA reports feed ban compliance exceeds 99 percent.
U.S. beef is safe from BSE because the parts of the animal that could carry BSE are not allowed into the food supply. In 2003, USDA strengthened its food safety program by banning from the human food supply any cattle that are unable to walk or show signs of possible neurological disease.
The vast majority of the cattle going to market in the United States are younger than 24 months, whereas BSE affects older cattle, typically more than 30 months of age. Only 15 percent of U.S. cattle processed are over 30 months. Even in European countries when BSE was at epidemic levels, no positive cases were found in the 1.6 million cattle less than 30 months of age tested there in 2002.
Q: In what type of beef is BSE found?
Research to date has not found BSE infectivity in beef such as steaks, roasts and ground beef; it is found in CNS tissue, such as brain and spinal cord. Tests on the muscle of naturally and experimentally infected cattle have been negative for BSE, even in advanced stages of the disease.
Q: What is the beef industry doing to protect the beef supply?
Past efforts by the beef industry include petitioning USDA in 1996 to implement a ruminant feed ban, which the agency did the following year. NCBA has worked with USDA to implement other precautionary measures. The beef industry carries out checkoff-funded producer education regarding BSE and animal health, determining susceptibility of cattle to BSE, and ways to inactivate prions.
Q: Is organic beef safer than conventionally produced beef?
No. Regardless of how the beef is produced, you can be assured the beef you eat is safe from BSE. Beginning in 1997, the FDA banned using ruminant derived protein supplements (meat & bone meal) in cattle feed. This ban prevents the transmission of BSE, therefore all U.S. beef – organic and conventional – is safe and wholesome.
Beginning in the 1980s the industry and government worked together to create a series of firewalls to safeguard the U.S. beef supply from the introduction or spread of BSE. Since BSE is only spread through contaminated feed, the 1997 feed ban implemented by the FDA protects both the U.S. conventional and organic beef supply.
Beef, regardless of type, is one of the most heavily regulated and stringently tested of all foods. This conclusion is consistent with that of other organizations such as the American Dietetic Association in its position paper on organic foods and the American Council on Science and Health. Consumers have a variety of products to choose from including conventional (or natural), grass-finished, and organically raised beef. These types of products are defined by a marketing distinction, not a nutritional or safety difference.
BSE Fact Sheet