March 24, 2006

Mad cow disease on the decline worldwide

Outbreaks of bovine spongiform encepalopathy (BSE) or mad cow disease worldwide have declined by 50 percent a year over the past three years, according to a Mar 23 statement from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

Some 474 animals died of BSE around the world in 2005. This compares with 878 in 2004 and 1646 in 2003.

In 2005, five human deaths resulted from variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), the human form of BSE. These deaths were all in the UK, the country most affected by the disease.

Andrew Speedy, a FAO animal production expert said it is quite clear that BSE is declining and that measures introduced to stop the disease are effective. He added that further success depends on the application of these measures worldwide.

He said that a tracking system that tracks animals from birth to slaughter is also vital to curbing BSE. This system has been adopted in Europe but has yet to be established in a number of other countries.