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The U.S. and Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE)

 

Based on its extensive experience working with federal regulatory agencies and the food industry, S.T.O.P. - Safe Tables Our Priority does not believe that current U.S. regulation and oversight adequately safeguard the United States from the possibility of BSE infectious agents contaminating our food supply. S.T.O.P. is presently working with state and federal governments to improve regulation and oversight in this area, despite assurances that it "can't happen here." If you are interested in supporting our efforts, please join S.T.O.P.

Below we have listed a series of links on this important issue:

  • The Official Mad Cow Disease Home Page contains numerous links to articles and research papers covering the topic.
  • The BSE Inquiry Report. "The BSE Inquiry was announced in Parliament on 22 December 1997, and set up on 12 January 1998, to establish and review the history of the emergence and identification of BSE and new variant CJD in the United Kingdom, and of the action taken in response to it up to 20 March 1996; to reach conclusions on the adequacy of that response..."
  • News Releases of the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee
  • BSE Research Page supported by the Pathology Laboratory, Burnley General Hospital, Burnley, UK. This gives a very deep scientific overview of the latest theories about BSE.
  • The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has a page that describes BSE transmission, risks and surveillance.
  • The University of Guelph in Ontario sponsors a set of food safety listservs as well, formally known as "FSNet." To search their archives for articles about BSE and CJD, go to their search page.
  • The Organic Consumers Assocation has a Resource Page, covering BSE.

Government sources of information about BSE can be found at:

  • The European Union Europa server has a page about BSE in Europe reviewing issues of European BSE food safety.
  • The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal Plant and Health Inspection Service has a BSE page with a number of links and a description of what USDA is doing about BSE.
  • USDA sponsors a listserv group called "Foodsafe" to which many individuals who implement food safety guidelines and regulations subscribe. They have had ongoing discussions about BSE. To find their discussions, go to the Foodsafe Search page.
  • The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has a BSE page which mostly rehashes information at other government sites. FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research also has a BSE summary page and a BSE Q&A page. And FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine has a BSE page.
  • The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has a travel advisory about BSE and an information page with a fact sheet.
  • The World Health Organization has a Communicable Disease Surveillance and Response page.
  • The National Insitute of Animal Health(Japan) has a summary page on BSE and references the Program for Monitoring Emerging Diseases mailing list.

Articles for the consumer can be found at:

  • The Atlantic Monthly has a long article entitled "Could Mad-Cow Disease Happen Here?" from 9/98 concluding, "Britain's horrifying experience taught us a few things, but perhaps not enough to preclude an outbreak of our own."
  • The BMJ Publishing Group assisted by Stanford University's HighWire Press
  • CNN
  • The Guardian Unlimited, a UK publication.
  • The London Times has a BSE section with links to its many articles.
  • New Scientist has an article "Mad Cow USA: America denies having BSE, but has yet to prove it" with several links to other New Scientist articles, and an editorial"The Madness Spreads: Hungry children around the world could bear the brunt of BSE," both dated dated 2/10/01.
  • The New York Times has run many articles on BSE. Unfortunately, you may have to search for them.
  • A recent Reuters article covers a report indicating "The United Nations said on Wednesday that at least 100 countries were at risk from mad cow disease."
  • Scientific American has covered this topic several times. One of their most recent articles is "Stopping Prions from Going Mad."

Organizations specifically supporting victims of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease are:

  • The Human BSE Foundation is a nonprofit exclusively serving victims and families of BSE.
  • The Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Foundation is an "American organization which focuses exclusively on Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease ("CJD"). The Foundation was created on April 7, 1993, by two families who had each lost a relative to CJD, and the neurologist who treated the CJD patients."

 

Last modified 2/9/01; ljg

 

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