Translations:Beef/57/en

Mad cow disease

Main article: Bovine spongiform encephalopathy

In 1984, the use of meat and bone meal in cattle feed resulted in the world's first outbreak of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE or, colloquially, mad cow disease) in the United Kingdom.

Deaths in the UK caused by vCJD from the start of the BSE outbreak up until 2009. MM and MV refer to the two genotypes of vCJD.

Since then, other countries have had outbreaks of BSE:

• In May 2003, after a cow with BSE was discovered in Alberta, Canada, the American border was closed to live Canadian cattle, but was reopened in early 2005.
• In June 2005, Dr. John Clifford, chief veterinary officer for the United States Department of Agriculture animal health inspection service, confirmed a fully domestic case of BSE in Texas. Clifford would not identify the ranch, calling that "privileged information." The 12-year-old animal was alive at the time when Oprah Winfrey raised concerns about cannibalistic feeding practices on her show which aired 16 April 1996.