| Fact: |
BSE is a progressive neurological disease among
cattle that is always fatal.
|
| Fact: |
The incubation period (the time from when an animal becomes
infected until it first shows disease signs) is from 2 to 8
years. Following the onset of clinical signs, the animal's condition
deteriorates until it either dies or is destroyed. This process
usually takes from 2 weeks to 6 months.
|
| Fact: |
There are different scientific hypotheses concerning the origins
of BSE. BSE in Great Britain may have been caused by feeding
cattle rendered protein produced from the carcasses of scrapie-infected
sheep or cattle with a previously unidentified transmissible
spongiform encephalopathy (TSE). The practice of using products
such as meat-and-bone meal as a source of protein in cattle
rations has been common for several decades. Changes in rendering
operations in the late 1970's and early 1980's may have played
a part in the appearance of the disease.
|
| Fact: |
There is no evidence that BSE spreads horizontally, i.e.,
by contact between unrelated adult cattle or contact between
cattle and other species.
|
| Fact: |
USDA conducts an ongoing, comprehensive interagency surveillance
program for BSE. This surveillance program allows USDA to monitor
actively for BSE to ensure immediate detection in the even that
BSE were to be introduced into the United States.
Fact: The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Animal and
Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has been and is enforcing
import restrictions as well as conducting surveillance for BSE
to ensure that this serious disease does not become established
in the United States. |
