This new book presents important analyses of current issues in BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy or -mad cow disease-) as a fatal neurological disease of cattle, believed to be transmitted mainly by feeding infected cattle parts back to cattle. More than 187,000 cases have been reported worldwide, 183,000 of them in the United Kingdom (UK) where BSE was first identified in 1986. The annual number of new cases has declined steeply since 1992. Humans who eat contaminated beef are believed susceptible to a rare but fatal brain wasting disease, variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD). About...

This new book gathers information related to Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) or mad cow disease. It is far from clear whether adequate measures are being taken in America to protect the people from this terrifying disease. The major problem is a tug-of-war between the desires of the meat processors to maximise profits and the people to be protected. The USDA has so far maintained a solid record which may be tested in the near future.

Through mid-May 2007, the United States had confirmed three cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE, or 'mad cow disease'): the first in December 2003 in a Canadian-born cow found in Washington state, the second in June 2005 in cow in Texas, and the third in March 2006 in a cow in Alabama. Shortly after the first case, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and other officials announced measures to improve existing safeguards against the introduction and spread of BSE. Previously, the major safeguards were: USDA restrictions on imports of ruminants and their products from countries with...

On 31 January 2007, the Secretary of Agriculture publicly released a set of recommendations for a 2007 farm bill. The proposal is comprehensive and follows largely the outline of the current 2002 farm bill, which expires this year. It includes proposals regarding commodity support, conservation, trade, nutrition and domestic food assistance, farm credit, rural development, agricultural research, forestry, energy, and such miscellaneous items as crop insurance, organic programs, and Section 32 purchases of fruits and vegetables. The Administration delivered its report to Congress, not as a...