QUESTIONS & ANSWERS ABOUT
BOVINE SPONGIFORM ENCEPHALOPATHY (BSE)
Q1.
What is BSE?
A1.
BSE stands for Bovine
Spongiform Encephalopothy. It is
a degenerative disease affecting
the central nervous system of
cattle. BSE is one of a family of
neurological diseases known as
Transmissible Spongiform
Encephalopothies (TSEs), some
of which affect animals and
others which affect humans.
Q2.
Has BSE ever been found in
the U.S.?
A2.
No. The USDA has conducted a
BSE surveillance program in the
U.S. since 1990. The USDA
surveillance program targets the
most susceptible cattle
population -- older animals,
animals showing any signs of a
possible neurological problem
and, beginning in 1993, animals
at slaughter that are nonambulatory (downer cattle). No
cases have been found to date.
Q3.
How is BSE spread?
A3.
There are different theories about
the origins of BSE and how it is
spread. The current
epidemiological data suggest
BSE became an epidemic in the
United Kingdom (U.K.) through
feed containing BSEcontaminated meat-and-bone-
Q4.
A4.
meal. Meat-and-bone meal was
used as a protein source.
Is it possible BSE may be
detected in the U.S. in the
future?
While no one can predict the
future, the possibility of BSE
happening in the United States is
becoming more and more
remote. The USDA, the FDA and
the national livestock industry
have taken numerous steps to
prevent BSE from occurring in
the U.S. We have in place a
comprehensive series of firewalls
and surveillance measures that
would detect the occurrence of
BSE and prevent it from
spreading. Preventive actions by
the U.S. include:

The U.S. has not imported
any beef from the U.K. since
before 1985.

In 1989, the U.S. banned the
importation of ruminant
animals (cattle, sheep, goats,
deer, elk and buffalo) as well
as at-risk ruminant products
from countries with confirmed
cases of BSE in native cattle.

Prior to this ban, 496 cattle
were imported into the U.S.
from the U.K. between 1981
and 1989. These cattle have
been quarantined and closely
monitored for years. Only
three remain alive. Brain
For more information please visit www.BSEinfo.org
tissue analysis of imported
cattle showed no presence of
any TSE, including BSE. In
addition, only five cows
imported from other countries
in Europe in 1996 and 1997
remain alive, and they are
under quarantine. Other
imported European cattle
were tested for BSE and were
found to be negative.



from spreading through cattle
feed.
237 cattle from Japan were
imported between 1993 and
1999. All were imported for
breeding, and all have been
traced. The U.S. stopped
imports of live ruminants and
ruminant products from Japan
in March 2000 because of
foot-and-mouth disease in
that country. That ban was
never lifted, and the import
ban remains in effect because
of that country’s discovery of
BSE in three dairy cows in
2001.
More than 60 veterinary
diagnostic laboratories
throughout the U.S.
participate in a BSE
surveillance program along
with the National Veterinary
Services Laboratory in Ames,
Iowa.
On August 4, 1997, an FDA
regulation went into effect
banning the use of at-risk
mammal-derived animal
protein by-products in cattle
feed to ensure that if the BSE
disease agent ever entered
the U.S. it would be prevented

On December 12, 1997, the
USDA banned imports of all
live ruminants and certain
ruminant products from
European countries until BSE
is more fully understood.

On April 24, 1998, the USDA
entered into a cooperative
agreement with Harvard
University’s School of Public
Health to analyze and
evaluate the USDA’s BSE
prevention measures.

On December 7, 2000, the
USDA prohibited all imports of
rendered animal protein
products from Europe,
regardless of species.
Q5.
Is the USDA’s cattle
surveillance program adequate
enough to find BSE should a
case ever occur?
A5.
Yes. We’re fully confident, having
worked with USDA for more than
a decade on this surveillance
program. The United States was
the first country in the world
without the disease to establish a
formal, science-based BSE
surveillance program, which
began in 1990. The USDA
surveillance program targets the
most susceptible cattle
population -- older animals,
animals showing any signs of a
possible neurological problem
and, beginning in 1993, animals
For more information please visit BSEinfo.org
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at slaughter that are nonambulatory (downer cattle).
The ban on imports of live
animals and on ruminant
products that could carry the BSE
agent has been the foundation of
the U.S. disease prevention
program.
Cattle under 20 months of age
make up nearly 90 percent of the
U.S. slaughter population.
Nowhere in the world has BSE
been diagnosed in cattle less
than 20 months of age.
As we continued to monitor the
BSE situation in Europe, planning
for the feed ban began in 1996,
and the FDA regulation became
effective in 1997.
Since 1994, the U.S. surveillance
program has used the
immunohistochemistry test, the
worldwide "gold standard" test for
detecting BSE. USDA also has
increased the scope and volume
of its testing program. USDA has
divided the country into eight
regions to assure testing
accounts for regional differences
while assuring uniform national
surveillance. Using the adult
cattle populations in each region,
USDA calculated regional
surveillance goals for BSE based
on international standards as if
each region were an individual
country. In 2001, these goals
were doubled to further increase
the level of detection being
employed.
Q6.
Is the Beef Industry confident
that import and feeding bans
are thoroughly enforced in the
U.S.?
A6.
Yes. When BSE was diagnosed
in the U.K., the U.S. beef industry
worked with the federal
regulators and our allied industry
partners using the best available
science to determine ways to
prevent the introduction of this
foreign disease. From that initial
work came the 1989 import bans.
The 1997 feed ban is one of the
three critical firewalls designed to
protect the safety of America's
beef supply. It assures us that if
BSE ever occurred here, it would
not be spread. Although some
noncompliance has been found, it
typically has been paperwork
noncompliance - the result of not
complying with requirements for
certain types of documentation.
We do expect full compliance
with the feed ban by all segments
of the industry.
To support compliance with the
feed ban, the industry has
developed a system of affidavits
that attest that cattle have not
been fed any prohibited
materials. Cattle buyers require
these affidavits from those selling
cattle. In addition, the U.S. feed
industry has developed a
certification program so that
producers who use feed from a
certified supplier are assured that
it complies with the FDA rules.
For more information please visit BSEinfo.org
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Q7.
How much research has the
beef industry conducted on
BSE?
A7.
The U.S. beef industry has an
ongoing partnership with
government here in the U.S. and
in Europe on various BSE
research projects in an effort to
keep up with the latest science
and maintain the firewalls that
have kept BSE from entering this
country. The Beef Industry Food
Safety Council also recently
formed a BSE Scientific Working
Group which brings leading
scientists together with industry
and government experts to
identify research voids. The beef
industry continues to urge
Congress and the Administration
to commit more funding to
combat foreign animal diseases.
Q8.
What is Advanced Meat
Recovery (AMR) and does it
pose a risk of BSE in this
country?
A8.
Advanced Meat Recovery is a
safe and effective meat
processing technology that is
used in some meat plants. A
special machine uses pressure to
extract meat off bones that can’t
be safely trimmed by hand.
AMR, like all meat processing, is
carefully monitored by USDA
inspectors and has the same
composition and safety standards
as beef produced through other
methods.
Q9.
What is the Beef Industry’s
position about AMR?
A9.
Based on the science we’ve
seen, we believe beef produced
through AMR has the same
composition and safety standards
as beef produced through other
methods. However, if USDA
determines there are sound
reasons to place restrictions on
the use of that process, we would
support it because protecting the
safety of the beef supply and the
confidence of consumers is our
top priority.
Q10. Is new variant CJD (nvCJD)
caused by eating products
from cattle infected with BSE?
A10. Research supports an
association between BSE and
new variant CJD – a human TSE.
The most likely source of human
exposure is consumption of
products containing brain or
spinal cord tissue from BSEinfected cattle. To date, the BSE
disease agent has not been
found in muscle meat or milk,
which comprise the majority of
cattle products consumed in the
U.S.
Q11. Does CJD occur in the U.S.?
A11. Yes. Classic CJD occurs in the
U.S, but new variant CJD has not
been found here. The occurrence
of classic CJD in the U.S.
remains consistent with the
global rate of approximately one
case per million people each
For more information please visit BSEinfo.org
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year. It’s important to note that
this incidence rate represents an
average over time. Because age
is a key factor in evaluating
classic CJD distribution, and
because the disease tends to
strike people over the age of 55,
the actual rate of classic CJD is
higher for ages 55 or older.
form. This abnormally shaped
protein is often referred to as
prion protein resistant (or PrPres).
As the abnormal protein
accumulates, it destroys neurons
and results in brain damage.
Classic CJD occurs at a
consistent rate of one person per
million each year worldwide.
Ongoing surveillance of classic
CJD cases in the U.S. has been
performed by the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) which has looked at data
going back to 1979. The CDC
has found that the national
incidence rate of CJD cases has
remained relatively stable since
1985. The CDC also has found
no evidence of new variant CJD
in the U.S.
Most classic CJD is sporadic – it
occurs for no known reason.
Classic CJD also can be
genetically inherited and also
may be acquired through such
things as cornea or dura matter
transplants from people with
CJD, or from improperly sterilized
neurosurgery instruments used
on CJD victims.
Q13. How many more cases of new
variant CJD are expected?
Q12. Is it possible for humans to get
classic CJD from eating beef
products?
A13. No one can accurately predict
how many more cases of new
variant CJD will occur because of
the unknowns of the disease,
including the amount and method
of exposure, route of
transmission and incubation
period. Steps taken to remove
the BSE disease agent should
help minimize potential exposure
and thereby limit the risk of new
variant CJD. Some recent
epidemiological projections in the
U.K. suggest the ultimate number
of variant CJD cases may be as
few as 200 or as many as a few
thousand.
A12. No. There is no scientific
evidence linking classic CJD to
diet; it affects one person per
million annually, vegetarians and
meat-eaters alike. Classic CJD
was first identified in the 1920s
while BSE was not identified until
1985.
While the exact cause of classic
CJD is unknown, scientists
suspect that, like all
Transmissible Spongiform
Encephalopathies, classic CJD
occurs when naturally occurring
protein structures in the brain
called prion protein cellular (or
PrPc) change to an abnormal
For more information please visit BSEinfo.org
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Q14. Has nvCJD ever been found in
the U.S.?
Q17. Is the U.S. working to prevent
the willful introduction of BSE
into the country through some
terrorist action?
A14. No. Ongoing surveillance by the
Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, in collaboration with
state health departments, has
found no cases of new variant
CJD in the U.S.
A17. The same animal disease
prevention programs that have
served us well to date will
continue to serve us well during
this period of heightened
concern.
Q15. Is it possible a case of new
variant CJD may be found in
the U.S. in the future?
BSE is not a likely choice for agriterrorism. It is not a contagious
disease (it does not spread from
animal to animal) and would be
hard to introduce. Not all animals
exposed to BSE would become
infected, and the disease has a
long incubation period. It is very
unlikely BSE is something a
person or group would choose to
attempt or succeed in
introducing.
A15. It is possible that a U.S. citizen
might contract new variant CJD if
that person has traveled to, or
previously lived in, countries
where cases of BSE have been
confirmed, and if that person
consumed products containing
brain or spinal cord from cattle
infected with the BSE disease
agent.
All points in the livestock and
meat production chain now have
heightened security to protect
against such actions. Just as the
government has always checked
every animal that goes to
slaughter for disease, it will
continue to do so to protect
animals and humans alike.
Q16. Have American consumers
stopped eating beef for fear
BSE might happen here?
A16. No. In fact, consumer demand
for U.S. beef has risen 12 of the
last 14 quarters. And, an
independent study conducted in
Decmeber 2001 by Wirthlin
Worldwide found that while many
American consumers are aware
of BSE, consumer confidence
that America’s beef supply is safe
from this disease reached an alltime high of 89 percent.
For more information please visit BSEinfo.org
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