Mad Cow Disease: What is it, and When Will it Strike?

Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), is a fatal neuro-degenerative disease which is passed between cattle and humans. The disease caused a great controversy starting in the late 80's and carrying through the 90s as it became clear that people were falling ill from food that they had eaten. The threat was greater still due to the diseases long incubation period which can last for years. The disease began in the UK which remains the most effected area to date with a peak in 1993. At that time, almost 1,000 new cases of BSE were reported every week. At the time, this was frightening because it implied that many of these animals had already entered the food supply. The public was understandably confused and frightened of the potential future consequences of BSE, which were admittedly not thoroughly understood even by experts. While the disease has only killed a few hundred people to date, it made a massive media frenzy and it still continues to show up from time to time and make headlines. This frenzy is partly due to the fact that the disease is very mysterious with a long incubation period, and when it strikes it is deadly. Also, since the disease is linked to a major food source, people are bound to feel vulnerable when they discover a major part of their lives which was once considered safe is potentially and silently lethal. The way the US government handles the disease to this day-it tests very few cattle and actually prohibits testing within the private sector-is the kind of action which would lead the public to be rightfully suspicious or untrusting. Factors combine to make a perfect storm of media attention and an unsettled public. Today BSE has declined greatly, and the paranoia that once existed has been eased greatly. However, in its day, BSE caused public panic that was disproportionate to the amount of deaths it caused. Obviously it was (and still is to an extent) very frightening for people.

“According to the World Health Organization (WHO), over 220 cases of BSE have been reported worldwide, with the majority occurring in the UK (177 cases) and in France (27 cases). Only four cases have been reported in the U.S., and in all four of these cases, there is evidence that indicates that the infection was acquired while abroad in Europe or the Middle East.” (Conrad)

In response to this death toll, over four and a half million cattle have been culled in the UK.

While only a few hundred cases have actually been reported around the world, the disease has caused a great stir, quite possibly because of the mystery surrounding it. Every year, a few people are still being diagnosed despite the precautions which are taken. All of the cases within the US have been attributed to foreign travel.

The EU banned UK beef between 1996 and 1999. The US and some other nations even banned Canadian beef briefly in 1993 after one Canadian cow (which did not enter the food supply) tested positive for BSE. Interestingly, the United states has some of the lowest requirements for testing cattle which has also led to some debate. In Japan, for example, every cow is tested before it is used for human consumption. In Europe, every cow over 30 months is tested. In the United states, there is a law which states that the brain and spinal cord of the animal must be thoroughly removed in order to prevent the spread of the illness. Since it is a neurological disease, this is an effective measure. However, even in 2014 over 2,000 pounds of beef were recalled due to improper processing. Not many details were released about exactly how and why this was but, obviously the issue is still alive. On one hand, only four people have tested positive for the disease in the United states. On the other hand, when cows are not regularly tested and the illness incubates within humans for a long time, it is understandable that the public has found the whole thing unnerving and that it made a big stir in the media. What could be lurking in our future when this disease takes a decade to show up? What if only one cattle farm had an unidentified outbreak years ago and it is still incubating in the human population?

Keep in mind that there is no way to test the disease in the blood of humans. If you have this illness lurking in your system, you cannot find out about it until you begin to show symptoms. At this point you will deteriorate rapidly. As a person who has lived in Europe for over five years, I would not be allowed to donate blood in the United States. That is interesting when only .12% of cattle in the states are tested, while all adult cows are tested where I live.

What is the mad cow disease, exactly? This type of disease is called a prion. Prions are slow progressing diseases that progress very quickly once symptoms begin to show. Prions cause the proteins in the brain and neural tissue to deform, resulting in a slow, painful and debilitating death for the victim. They are originally caused by a rare genetic mutation in the DNA, and unfortunately they are able to effect other proteins that they come in contact with; thus the contagion factor which enabled the disease (which is probably naturally occurring in very small amounts) to spread. There is no known treatment or cure. Where does the disease come from? This is also not completely clear. There have been speculations that BSE has been indigenous in small numbers in bovine populations throughout history, and it is also likely that cattle were infected by being fed the remains of other cattle and animals. Before 1987 in Europe, cattle were often fed ground up animal and bone waste, as opposed to soy bean, as a protein supplement. There is speculation that the disease results from scrappy in sheep or some other animal based contaminant. Also take into account the countless antibiotics and hormones that modern cows are injected with, and there is a large cocktail of unknown factors which could contribute to the disease. Part of the controversy is about whether or not we brought this onto ourselves. Why were we feeding animal parts to herbivorous cattle begin with? Obviously it is profitable, especially in a place like Europe where soy protein does not grow easily to feed the cows. The next best option: other cows, sick sheep etc.

What ethical questions are at stake here? One is whether or not we have messed too much with nature. In the Western world we eat so much beef that we need to produce cattle in a number which is not naturally possible for us to support on the grass fields. Thus, we ended up resorting to putting herbivorous animals in a position of cannibalism for our own consumption and causing a risk to our selves in return. Also, have governments done a good job of containing the illness? All in all, it seems that 'yes, they have.' One can make this assessment simply by looking at the figures and cases of reported BSE and seeing that they are certainly in great decline since their peak in the mid 90s. However, in the US, only .12% of cattle are actually tested. This also leaves room for questioning. The biggest lingering fear associated with mad cow disease is the fact that it is largely misunderstood and that there is a possibility that it could strike again. In the US there is an effort made to separate the nervous tissues where the disease resides from the meat, and this certainly does help to diminish the risk of transmission. But the fact is that there is always room for error and most cattle are not being tested to begin with. Oddly enough, when meat suppliers have offered to test their cattle in the past the USDA actually stopped them, for fear of sparking controversy or bringing attention to the public. The USDA actually prohibits that private beef companies test their cattle while the USDA testing program only tests about 40,000 cattle every year among the millions that are slaughtered.

Combined with the mystery surrounding the disease, its incurability and the fact that the USDA has banned private companies from testing their cattle, it is no wonder that the public might be suspicious, and you can also see how a perfect storm was created for the media. The truth is that far more people die every year of food born illnesses than they ever will of mad cow. But mad cow is scary because it feels like something that we cannot completely control or understand. Despite just over 200 deaths, there has been massive media coverage and controversy, and this can be largely attributed to the fact that the biology of the disease is mysterious enough for Hollywood. We don't understand exactly how it works or when it will pop up, but we know it is fatal and there is no cure. Also, the US government and the incredibly wealthy livestock industry has not exactly been forth coming in testing animals adequately in the US in caparison to other Westernized Nations. These factors all came together to ultimately create a media storm and a frightened and rightfully weary public. According to the CDC, heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United states. So, if death is what we fear, then maybe we need to reassess the amount of hamburgers we take in, or possibly quit them all together. Interestingly enough, that has got very little to do with mad cow disease.

SOURCES

http://www.emedicinehealth.com/mad_cow_disease_and_variant_creutzfeldt-jakob/page2_em.htm

http://berkeleysciencereview.com/problematic-prions-and-the-history-of-mad-cow-disease/

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/bse/

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/07/02/health/mad-cow-disease-fast-facts/

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs310/en/index2.html

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