ANSC 307H Presentation On BSE

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ANSC 307H Presentation On BSE

• Lab TA Brian Covington
• Brooke Handlin
• Kristen Kastner
• Jeff Smaistrla
• Matthew Chalmers

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How to identify if yourcow has MADCOW disease
If your cow sounds like this, then fire up the
barbecue.
If your cow sounds like this, then may we suggest
the chicken.
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BSE

• Scientific Name
• Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy
• Human Variation
• New Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease
• Common Name
• Mad Cow Disease

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Background/Theory

• In the 1940s farmers ran short of protein feed
  sources and began to feed rendered animal
  products to sheep and cattle.
• During WWII it became standard practice
  throughout the British Isles.
• It is believed in theory that BSE came from
  Scrapie in sheep in the late 70s or early 80s.
  It jumped a species barrier to cattle.
• Scrapie is a known neurological disease called
  Transmittable Spongiform Encephalopathies or TSE.
• The only known way for BSE to spread is for
  animals to eat the feed that is contaminated with
  BSE. Contamination is caused by eating the nerve
  tissues (mainly spinal cords, brain tissue) of
  infected animals.
• BSE is not an infectious disease so it cant be
  spread within a cattle population.

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Description

• BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) is a
  fatal disease that causes progressive
  neurological degeneration in cattle.
• BSE involves pronounced changes in mental state,
  abnormalities of posture, movement and of
  sensation. This is where the term Mad Cow came
  into being.
• TSEs are diseases that are characterized by a
  long incubation period of up to several years,
  during which there is no visible indication of
  the disease.
• The incubation period for BSE among cattle
  ranges from three to eight years. The disease is
  invariably fatal there is no known treatment or
  cure.
• The infective agent of BSE is believed to be a
  Prion, which causes the sponigiform of the brain
  tissue.
• Prions are formed from abnormal proteins found
  in the brain and spinal cord of infected cattle.
  The normal prion is an a-helical shape and the
  abnormal prion is a ß-helical shape.

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Spongiform Tissue

• CJD human
• Kuru human
• BSE cow
• Scrapie sheep

Spongiform caused by Prions
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History behind BSE

• BSE was first observed in Great Britain in
  April, 1985, and was specifically diagnosed in
  1986.
• The epidemic peaked in 1992-93 with almost 1,000
  cases per week.
• Control measures have reduced incidence and
  currently, less than 100 cases are being reported
  per week.
• By the end of the decade, 5 million cattle were
  slaughtered in attempt to prevent the spread of
  BSE
• By the end of 2000, BSE-infected cattle were
  found in Countries such as Germany, Italy, Spain

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BSE Reports in the UK
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Documented BSE Cases Worldwide
United Kingdom, 180,937Ireland, 587Portugal,
543 Switzerland, 374France, 266 Germany,
57 Spain, 40 Belgium, 27Netherlands, 14
Denmark, 3 Liechtenstein, 2 Italy, 2Luxembourg,
1Africa, 0Australia, 0New Zealand, 0South
America, 0United States, 0

•  Cases of BSE also have been confirmed in cattle
  imported from the U.K. to the following
  countries
• Canada (1)
• Falkland Islands (1)
• Oman (2)
• BSE cases in native cattle
• The United Kingdom is comprised of Great
  Britain, Northern Ireland, Isle of Man, Jersey
  and Guernsey. Figure through 2000, as of April 6,
  2001

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BSEs Current Status in the European Union

• Overall incidence is dramatically decreasing
• Great Britains reported cases have fallen from
  a record 36,000 in 1992 to1348 in 2000
• Number of cases are rising in some Member States
• France - 31 cases in 1992, 162 in 2000
• Ireland 95 cases in 1999, 149 in 2000
• These are the states with the most recent
  highest rates of incidence
• Several community measures have been enacted to
  protect the public

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January 1, 2001New Testing Program

• In addition to compulsory examination of all
  animals showing signs suggestive of BSE, testing
  must also be carried out on
• All cattle over 30 months of age
• Random sample of cattle that have died on the
  farm
• Healthy animals over 30 months destined for
  human consumption
• Initiating this new testing program has resulted
  in an increase in the number of detected BSE cases

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Community Measuresto Tackle BSE

• The European Commission has put in place a set
  of Community measures in relation to BSE
• A ban on the feeding of mammalian meat and bone
  meal (MBM)
• Higher processing standards for animal waste
• Surveillance measures for the detection, control
  and eradication of BSE
• Requirement to remove specified risk materials
  (SRMs) such as the brain and the spinal cord
• Introduction of targeted testing for BSE
• Prohibit the use of dead animals in feed
  production
• A ban on the use of mechanically recovered meat
  derived from bones of cattle, sheep and goats

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Beef Consumption in the EU

• Consumption has decreased by about 30
• McDonalds is observing slow sales and decreased
  profits as stock fell to 378.3 million (29 a
  share) from 450.9 million a year earlier.
• Between October December last year, beef
  slaughter in the 15 EU Countries dropped by
  nearly a third
• More than 50 of exports are blocked
• Producer prices have collapsed
• Every fall in price by one cent equates to a
  loss of EUR 200 million for farmers
• The following support measures are currently in
  force to aid farmers
• 1. Program for the safe destruction of cattle for
  which farmers receive financial compensation
• 2. Private Storage of cow meat
• 3. Early payment of premiums
• 4. Special buying-up program for cattle older
  than 30 months 
• Due to the Mad Cow scare there is suddenly a new
  market for alternate meat sources like emu,
  ostrich and even kangaroo

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American Efforts

• USDA/APHIS
• July 29, 1989- Official import ban
• December 7, 2000- Prohibited all rendered animal
  protein products
• FDA
• 1997- Banned feeding of mammal-derived protein
  by-products to cattle
• Critical firewall measure
• Requires invoice and label copies of feed

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American Efforts

• USDA/APHIS Surveillance Program 1986
• 60 veterinary diagnostic labs
• National Veterinary Services Laboratories, Ames,
  IA
• 250 APHIS and state vets trained to diagnose and
  field check
• 1993- examination of downer cows included
• 1994- immuno histochemistry testing
• Strategic plan- http//www.aphis.usda.gov/oa/spl
  an005.pdf
• Emergency response plan

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Getting the Word Out

• APHIS continuing efforts to educate and inform
  U.S. Cattle producers and vets
• Briefings, press releases, fact sheets
• Videotape and Information packets available at
  all APHIS field offices, state vets, extension
  vets, colleges of vet medicine, and industry
  groups.
• National Cattlemens Beef Association
• Educate reporters and the general public
• Written documentation from feed suppliers

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Getting the Word Out

• NCBA Advisory Statement on BSE Prevention
• Three components of BSE prevention that should
  remain the highest priority of industry and
  government are
• 1) Strict enforcement of import restrictions
  designed to keep the BSE agent out of the U.S.
• 2) Achieve 100 compliance with the FDA feed ban
• 3) Continued support for active USDA BSE
  surveillance in the U.S.
• We pledge our continued vigilance and commitment
  to BSE prevention in the U.S.

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Getting the Word Out

• Vermont Scare
• July 2000 - 4 sheep tested positive for TSE
• U.S. Secretary of Agriculture issued a
  Declaration of Extraordinary Emergency
• Quarantined since 1998
• March 23, 2001 - 360 sheep removed to Ames, IA.
  to be euthanized and tested
• Texas Feed Mill
• FDA tested samples - low level of prohibited
  material found
• Purina Mills, Inc. voluntarily purchased 1222
  cows
• Violation of 97 feed ban, not safety risk

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BSE and Its Relationto Human Diseases

• 3 types of Acquired Prion Protein Diseases
• 1. Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease (CJD)
• 2. Kuru
• 3. New Variant Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease

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Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease (CJD)

• Discovery \ Incidence
• First discovered in the 1920s by German
  neuroscientists.
• Affects approximately one person per million
  each year
• Primary occurrence is found in adults over the
  age of 55
• Transmission
• Genetically inherited
• Sporadic form
• Acquired due to exposure to CJD-contaminated
  material
• Symptoms \ Diagnosis
• Poor concentration, Lethargy, Visual
  disturbance, Unsteadiness and Dementia
• Neurological evaluation by means of an EEG,
  Examination of cerebro spinal fluid, Brain
  biopsy, Autopsy post-mortem
• Occurrence of CJD in the United States remains
  consistent with the worldwide rate of one person
  per million. However, this disease does not
  directly relate to nvCJD or Mad Cow Disease.

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Kuru and New Variant Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease

• Kuru
• Prion disease that is virtually extinct.
• Originally described in members of a tribe in
  New Guinea known to practice cannibalism.
• Epidemic probably originated from consumption of
  meat from a member of the tribe affected by
  sporadic CJD
•  New Variant CJD
• First discovered in March of 1996 in 10 Britons
  under the age of 45
• Initially suspected as CJD, but further research
  showed pathological differences
• There have now been 101 people in Europe who
  have been described to having this disease.
• Almost all cases have been found in people under
  the age of 55, most of whom where teenagers.

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New VariantCreutzfeldt-Jacob Disease

• Transmission
• Research in the UK supports an association
  between BSE and nvCJD.
• Thoughts that nvCJD has been contracted by
  consumption of neural tissue of BSE-infected
  cattle are on the rise.
• Continuing research indicates that this disease
  may have a genetic component as well.
• Symptoms
• Unlike CJD, nvCJD lasts up to 14 months rather
  than only 4-6 months as seen in CJD patients.
• nvCJD patients have experienced depression,
  earlier loss of coordination, and dementia
• Occurred almost exclusively in people under the
  age of 55
• Diagnosis
• Procedures are similar to those of diagnosing
  CJD
• Patients with nvCJD lack periodic sharp-wave
  complexes in EEG results
• nvCJD patients appear to have detectable
  associated prion protein in their tonsils
• To date, the only cases of nvCJD have been found
  in Europe and no cases have been found in the US.

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Keeping nvCJD Out of the United States

• Center of Disease Control and Prevention
• Monitor annual death rates for CJD cases in the
  U.S.
• Since the outbreak of nvCJD in the UK, the CDC
  has enhanced its CJD surveillance
• No sign of nvCJD has been found in brain
  specimens from 67 CJD cases between 1991 and
  1996.
• National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance
  Center
• Help monitor the possible occurrence of nvCJD in
  the U.S.
• Help establish the diagnosis of prion diseases
• Transfer data to the Centers for Disease Control
  and Prevention in order to monitor the prevalence
  of prion diseases and investigate possible cases
  in which the disease has been acquired from other
  humans or animals.

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Works Cited References

• Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE). 19
  April 2001.
• Available http//meat.tamu.edu/topics/BSEtech.ht
  ml.
• Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease (CJD). 17 April
  2001.
• Available www.bseinfo.org.
• FDA Announces Test Results From Texas Feed Lot.
  17 April 2001. Available http//www.fda.gov/bbs
  /topics/news/2001/new00752.html.
• Global TSE News. 18 April 2001.
• Available http//www.mad-cow.org/current_UK_news.
  html.
• National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance
  Center. 17 April 2001. Available
  www.cjdsurveillance.com
• New Variant CJD (nvCJD). 17 April 2001.
• Available www.bseinfo.org.
• Prevention of BSE in the US. 15 April 2001.
• Available http//w3.aces.uiuc.edu/AnSci/BSE/uspre
  vent.htm.
• IFST Current Hot Topics 5 April 2001.
• Available http//www.ifst.org/hottop5.htm.

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Works Cited References

• Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy. 3 April
  2001.
• Available http//www.aphis.usda.gov/oa/pubs/fsbse
  .html.
• Ruminant Feed (BSE) Enforcement Activities. 17
  April 2001. Available http//www.fda.gov/cvm/ind
  ex/updates/bsemar3.htm.
• USDA Removes Quarantined Sheep from Second
  Vermont Farm.
• 19 April 2001.
• Available http//www.usda.gov/news/releases/2001/
  03/0053.htm.
• U.S. Works to Remain BSE Free. 17 April 2001.
  
• Available http//www.beef.org/newsroom/ncba/ncba
  01_0320.htm.
• BSE Home Page. 5 April 2001.
• Available http//www.maff.gov.uk/animalh/bse/inde
  x.html.
• Will it Happen Here? 5 April 2001.
• Available http//www.progressivefarmer.com/issue/
  0401/madcow/.
• Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) 5 April
  2001.
• Available http//www.fsis.usda.gov/OA/topics/bse.
  htm.