KEY POINTS:
Two people have died in Spain from variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, the human form of mad cow disease, the health department at the regional Castilla-Leon government said yesterday.
Mad cow disease, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), first emerged in Britain in the 1980s and has been found in herds in several European and other countries. Scientists believe it is transmitted through infected meat and bone meal fed to cattle and may cause vCJD in humans.
Here are some key facts:
Origins:
* First surfaced in Britain in 1985 when a black-and-white dairy cow was seen staggering and head-butting other cattle. It was diagnosed as BSE in November 1986.
* Known formally as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, the disease swept through Britain in the 1980s and early 1990s, causing millions of animals to be slaughtered and burnt.
* Scientists blamed waste produced in slaughterhouses and used to make animal feed for its spread. Cattle feed usually contained wastes obtained from the slaughter of other cows.
The cost:
* Britain destroyed 3.7 million cattle in the 1980s and 1990s because of BSE. Between 1986 and 2002, 181,376 cases were confirmed in Britain.
- During that time Britain spent more than $6 billion, excluding job losses, in sorting out the crisis.
* By 1988 Britain realised BSE was a serious problem. EU authorities banned high-risk materials such as spinal cord from use in feed and tighter labelling was also introduced.
* British beef exports were banned worldwide.
* The ban on British beef exports was partially lifted in 1999. In March 2006, EU experts agreed to a complete lifting of the embargo, nearly 10 years to the day after it was imposed.
* In 2007, BSE surveillance has identified 15 cases in North America, three BSE cases in the United States and 12 in Canada. A new case was reported in Canada last February.
Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease:
* vCJD is strongly linked with exposure to BSE. BSE can pass to people who eat infected beef products causing the related condition called variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease or vCJD.
* vCJD is a rare and fatal human neurodegenerative condition. As with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, vCJD is classified as a Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy (TSE) because of characteristic spongy degeneration of the brain and its ability to be transmitted. vCJD is a new disease that was first described in March 1996. To date it has killed over 160 people in Britain.
- REUTERS
