In the spring of 1996, when numerous reports of bovine spongioform encephalopathy, popularly known as -mad cow disease, - coincided with an outbreak of a similar neuropathological disease in humans, a panic spread across Britain, Europe, and subsequently to the United States. Described as -the biggest crisis the European Union ever had, - the mad cow controversy raised important issues about the ways in which risks to the public heath are assessed, disseminated, and controlled. Was the -epidemic- merely a failure of management, the lessons of which could be incorporated into a new strategy...

In the spring of 1996, when numerous reports of bovine spongioform encephalopathy, popularly known as -mad cow disease, - coincided with an outbreak of a similar neuropathological disease in humans, a panic spread across Britain, Europe, and subsequently to the United States. Described as -the biggest crisis the European Union ever had, - the mad cow controversy raised important issues about the ways in which risks to the public heath are assessed, disseminated, and controlled. Was the -epidemic- merely a failure of management, the lessons of which could be incorporated into a new strategy...