As the true depth of the BSE
epidemic comes to light in Europe, just-food.com has compiled a global
calendar of events connected to the spread of the disease.
It is widely argued that
the crisis unravelled after changes were made to the production of cattle feed
during the 1980s. The process of rendering, using animal remains in feed, has
been widespread since the 1920s, however scientists believe that due to changes
such as a ban on the use of solvents and lower temperatures during manufacture
over 60 years later, a strain of the sheep disease scrapie found its
way into the cattle troughs.
Go deeper with GlobalData
This is how the crisis unfolded
and a concise guide to the measures implemented to deal with the disease across
the world, including action taken within the EU, in particular in the UK, and
in the US by the US Department of Agriculture/APHIS, the Food and Drug Administration
and the United States Livestock Industry:
| 18th century |
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| 1732 | The brain disease scrapie is first recorded in sheep |
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| 19th century |
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| 1883 | A vet in France reports the first case of scrapie in a cow. |
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| 20th century |
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| 1920s | |||
| The practice of rendering, using remains from slaughterhouses for animal feed, is more widely adopted |
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| 1920-1 | First cases of "classical" Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) reported. |
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| 1950s | |||
| 1957 | A tribe of New Guinea cannibals found to carry Kuru, a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE). |
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| 1980s | |||
| Many scientists argue that it was at this time that scrapie "jumped" the species barrier from sheep to cattle after changes in the rendering process and BSE was born. |
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| 1984 | (Dec) | Farmer Peter Stent, from Midhurst, West Sussex, contacts a vet after one of his cows starts behaving strangely |
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| 1985 | First signs of BSE in the UK. US halt imports of British Beef from UK processing plants |
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| (Feb) | "Cow 133" dies after head tremors, weight loss and poor coordination. Symptoms identified in clinical report as "novel progressive spongiform encephalopathy in cattle". |
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| (Sept) | Carol Richardson, of UK Government’s Central Veterinary Laboratory, issues post-mortem report on brain tissue from a cow on Stent’s farm. |
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| 1986 | (Nov) | First case of mad cow disease (BSE) formally identified in the UK |
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| 1987 | UK government informed that meat and bone meal is "only a viable hypothesis for cause of BSE." |
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| 1988 | (April) | Southwood Committee established by UK government to investigate BSE, it concludes that animal feed is probably responsible for spread. |
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| (June) | Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Order in UK bans certain types of meal |
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| (July) | 18: UK ban on ruminant meat and bone meal (MBM) in cattle feed |
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| (Aug) | UK government announces decision to slaughter all BSE-affected cattle |
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| 1989 | Regulations mandate removal of specified cattle offal in abattoirs |
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| (July) | Europe export ban on British cattle born before July 1988 and offspring of diseased animals. |
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| (Nov) | UK ban on use of high-risk offal (brain, spinal cord, spleen) for human consumption. |
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| USDA/ APHIS enacts emergency ban on the importation of most ruminant products from countries with confirmed cases of BSE. |
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| 1990s |
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| 1990 | UK government establishes National CJD Surveillance Unit in Edinburgh to monitor cases and investigate link with BSE. |
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| FDA intensifies microbiological review of human drugs from bovine sources. |
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| (May) | Prof. Richard Lacey calls for slaughter of infected herds. |
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| British cattle exports to EC restricted to those less than six months old. |
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| Tory agricultural minister John Gummer feeds beef burger to four-year-old daughter on TV to prove British beef is "completely safe." She refuses it. |
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| 1991 | (Dec) | Formal regulation by USDA/APHIS to restrict importation of ruminant meat and edible products and ban most by-products of ruminant origin from countries known to have BSE. |
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| 1993 | USDA/APHIS expand BSE surveillance program to include examination of brain tissue from "downer" cows. |
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| (Jan) | 1,000 new BSE cases reported every week in Britain |
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| (July) | Peak of epidemic when 100,000th case of BSE confirmed in Britain. |
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| 1993-5 | Four cases of CJD in British dairy farmers who had BSE in their herds. |
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| 1994 | USDA/APHIS implement immunohistochemistry-testing method for BSE. |
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| 1995 | Ban on meat recovered mechanically from cattle backbones entering food chain. |
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| (May) | 21: Stephen Churchill, first known vCJD victim, dies aged 19. Three more people die this year. |
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| 1996 | (March) | 20: Health secretary Stephen Dorrell officially announces a "probable link" between the cattle disease BSE and 10 cases of what seem to be vCJD. |
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| 27: EC subsequently imposes worldwide ban on British beef exports. |
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29: US livestock/animal |
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| (April) | UK government launches legal challenge to export ban and proposes destruction of 4.6m cattle. |
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| (Aug) | Oxford University report says BSE in decline and will peter out by 2001. |
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| (Sep) | France bans cosmetics sales containing British beef derivatives. |
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| (Oct) | PM John Major declares British beef "perfectly safe" to eat. |
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| (Dec) | Chief medical officer admits UK government could have done more. |
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| 1997 | Beef banned by local UK councils in around 2,000 schools. |
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| (Jan) | FDA proposes a ban on the use of ruminant products in livestock feed. |
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| (Mar) | Cull of 100,000 cattle in UK begins. |
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| (April) | Scientists discover calves are passed BSE and susceptibility to infection. |
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| (May) | EU Agriculture Commissioner Franz Fischler announces ban on all offal from food chains to protect public from BSE. |
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| UK government threatens to ban beef imports from countries that do not follow British abattoirs’ hygiene controls. |
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| (June) | 2: FDA regulation bans use of most mammalian protein in animal feed. |
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| Estimates that BSE could cost GB over £4bn |
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| EU begins action against 10 member countries for breaching BSE rules. |
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| (Sep) | Studies on mice show convincing evidence for link between vCJD and BSE. |
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| (Dec) | GB: Beef on the bone ban; one-off compensation to beef farmers of £85m; |
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| Scotland/Wales ports see farmer demonstrations against cheaper beef imports |
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| USDA/APHIS bans imports of live ruminants from Europe until BSE risks examined. |
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| 1998 | (Jan) | £2 marketing campaign launched to restore confidence in British beef. |
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| (Mar) | Public enquiry on link between BSE and vCJD opens in London, EU ministers approve end of export ban on BSE-free herds in Northern Ireland. |
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| (April) | Investigation into diagnosis and information given to vCJD victims |
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| 24: Cooperative agreement between USDA/APHIS and Harvard University’s School of Public Health to evaluate BSE prevention measures. |
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| (June) | N. Ireland resume exports, first UK beef sold abroad since March 1996. Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Order passed to ban certain meals |
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| EC recommends end of export ban on British beef born after August 1996. |
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| (July) | UK Government’s slaughter policy for animals showing BSE symptoms |
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| 1999 | (Aug) | EC lifts British beef ban, but France continues to enforce the embargo. (Nov) UK beef-on-the-bone ban lifted. |
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| 21st century |
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| 2000 | (Feb) | Baby girl born to a mother with vCJD is found to have the disease. |
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| (April) | 3,000 tests on human tonsil/appendix samples show no vCJD prions. |
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| (July) | Queniborough village, Leics, UK, investigated after "cluster" of CJD cases |
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| (Oct) | French President Jacques Chirac demands stronger BSE measures when potentially tainted meat found on supermarket shelves. |
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| UK Government releases results of BSE inquiry, criticising former officials for playing down risks and failing to coordinate a government response. Death of a 74-year-old British man, oldest known victim of vCJD, sparking renewed fears about the extent of the illness. |
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| (Nov) | French authorities temporarily ban beef in restaurants and school canteens |
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| 15: French beef on the bone and meat in livestock feed ban. |
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| 17: CJD victims’ families file lawsuit against EU authorities; Italy bans import of beef on the bone and adult cows from France. |
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| 23: First case of BSE detected in Spain |
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| 24: 2 cases of BSE in German cows confirmed. One was exported to BSE -free Azores, where all cattle imported recently will now be slaughtered. |
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| (Dec) | 3: GB government ban T-bone steaks |
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| 14: BSE expert declares British beef safer than French |
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| 2001 | (Jan) | 5: Australia and New Zealand announce total ban on beef and beef products from 30 European countries due to BSE fears. |
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| 8: German agriculture minister Karl-Heinz Funke and health minister Andrea Fischer, resign over mistakes made during their handling of the BSE crisis. |
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