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Technologies being used to produce nonhuman animals who are used for meat and dairy products are viewed by some people as meaningful. Two technologies receiving scrutiny in agriculture are beta agonists that are fed to food animals to improve weight gain and cloning animals to secure offspring with specific traits. The technologies enhance the productive capacities of animals so that fewer resources are needed to produce meat and dairy products. Yet consumers are not sure they want food products with beta agonist residues and that are produced from clones. In overseeing the safety of food products and animals, legislators and regulators in the United States (US) and European Union (EU) have developed contrasting provisions regarding the usage of these technologies. An evaluation of heuristics involving information and experiences with bovine spongiform encephalopathy and animal production technologies offers support in explaining the US's and EU's divergent provisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

INTRODUCTION: Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (CJD) is an uncommon, fatal, genetic, transmissible and degenerative, brain disorder. It affects one person in every one million in the United States. A definite diagnosis can be made by histopathological confirmation which is often not possible for various reasons. Therefore, great caution is needed before the diagnosis is offered. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients with radiological diagnosis of CJD in the past 2 years were assessed clinically, reassessed at 1-month, and results are discussed. RESULTS: Four out of the 12 patients seen had nonprion cause. Hyperacute onset with coma, nonprogressive changes in imaging and electroencephalography, were seen in those who improved. The presence or absence of 14-3-3 in cerebrospinal fluid was not useful in either confirming or excluding the diagnosis in a given case. CONCLUSION: All patients with cortical ribboning need correlation with clinical features and follow-up to confirm or exclude prion disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2008 the Korean government decided to resume importing US beef, leading to a nationwide controversy over the risk of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease. Korean media coverage of BSE during this controversy demonstrates how media reporting on scientific matters interacts with political controversy over science-related risks. In Korea, where media organizations tend to be associated with particular political ideologies, the media emphasized the uncertainty of scientific accounts in the BSE case and reinforced the politicization of science by selectively mobilizing contrasting scientific claims and scientific authorities based on each media outlet's political position. The distinctive role of such a media culture in the science-related political discourse is further highlighted when we consider US media coverage of BSE risk during the same period: in that coverage, the baseline technical risk-related issues were taken for granted and the BSE controversy in Korea was presented largely as a trade issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In December 2003, Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) was discovered in the United States. This food safety event received extensive media coverage and prompted changes in regulatory controls. Using a panel selection model, we show that prior to December 2003, ground beef recalls had no impact on household purchases of ground beef, even for households that were located in the recall-defined geographic areas. However, we find robust evidence that the 2003 BSE event caused a change in the way people view and respond to recalls of ground beef, a change that persisted for at least two years following the BSE event. The average impact of a ground beef recall in the post-BSE period is a 0.26 lb per person reduction in retail purchases of ground beef. A decline in purchases of this magnitude would result in over $97 million in losses to the beef industry in a two week period following a nationwide recall. This dwarfs the economic impacts of directly removing recalled beef from supply chains and provides FSIS increased regulatory power due to higher overall industry costs associated with food safety violations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) is a rare, fatal prion disease resulting from transmission to humans of the infectious agent of bovine spongiform encephalopathy. We describe the clinical presentation of a recent case of vCJD in the United States and provide an update on diagnostic testing. The location of this patient's exposure is less clear than those in the 3 previously reported US cases, but strong evidence indicates that exposure to contaminated beef occurred outside the United States more than a decade before illness onset. This case exemplifies the persistent risk for vCJD acquired in unsuspected geographic locations and highlights the need for continued global surveillance and awareness to prevent further dissemination of vCJD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2012, the media paid extra attention to lean finely textured beef (LFTB), an inexpensive lean beef product extracted from low-valued fatty trim. The media’s negative portrayal of LFTB as an unnecessary and unsavory additive to ground beef products corresponded with a spike in reports over a 6-month period. Since LFTB is often used in ground beef, it is likely that consumption of LFTB-based ground beef products and other meats could be affected. This paper used weekly meat production and sales data to assess how media depictions of LFTB affect consumer demand. We used a Central Bureau of Statistics model to test whether media portrayal affects the consumption of aggregate meats and beef cuts: pork, chicken, turkey, Choice beef, Prime beef, Select beef and ground beef. Results indicate that media portrayal of LFTB, measured by the number of articles on the subject weighted by consumer readership, did not lead to significant changes in consumer demand across meats or within the beef category immediately. However, consumer purchases of pork, turkey and Prime beef were affected two weeks or greater after news reports of LFTB surfaced. Nevertheless, those effects were temporary and waned or disappeared during later weeks. Our look at the LFTB controversy informs food policy by studying the media sources from which consumers obtain their information. As the temporary effects of news media on consumer demand for aggregate meats and disaggregate beef cuts suggest, consumers may benefit from receiving their news from industry and government sources instead. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT An augmented vector-autoregressive (VAR) model relating pre- and post-BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) exports of U.S. beef meat, beef offal, pork meat, and pork offal was used to test for structural changes following an outbreak of BSE in the United States in December 2003. The VAR, exogenous variables-intercepts, seasonal dummies, and export unit value first lags-and covariance estimates all had statistically significant changes for each of the four types of exports, indicating that BSE caused structural changes in U.S. exports of the four meats. To demonstrate the effects of these coefficient-estimate shifts, post-BSE exports were forecast using both sets of coefficients, the pre- and post-BSE periods. These forecasts were in concordance with actual U.S. export data, showing that the structural changes lead to a decrease in U.S. beef meat and offal exports and a strong increase in U.S. pork meat and offal exports in the post-BSE years. [Econ Lit Classification: F140, F170, and Q170.]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – Pricing densities implied from options on live cattle futures show a persistent and negative skew. The purpose is to examine whether the skew can be explained, in part, by peso-type problems. Design/methodology/approach – Two announcements of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) provide a natural setting within which to examine the validity of the peso-problem explanation. These announcements represent the first documented cases of BSE in North America. Prior to the announcements, the potential for BSE would have been known by market participants as the disease had been found among cattle in the British Isles, Europe and Asia. The paper uses options market data to compute implied moments of the pricing distribution for live cattle futures. The paper then analyzes these moments around BSE announcements. Findings – The first Canadian BSE announcement impacted the mean and volatility but not the implied skew. Later in the year, BSE was found in a US cow and the paper finds a statistically significant change in the implied skew. The distribution showed a pronounced leftward skew prior to the US announcement but was nearly symmetric during the days afterwards. This finding is consistent with the market having priced the possibility of a BSE discovery into deep out-of-the-money put options. Originality/value – Peso problems have been documented in other financial markets. The results are important because they suggest that they may also be important to agricultural markets and that agricultural options markets do account for low probability but highly important events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT This study examines the impact of different food scare events on marketing margins in the U.S. beef and pork industries. The authors analyze how market stresses induced by the Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) recalls and bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) outbreaks affect price spreads and the extent of price transmission at the slaughter-to-wholesale and wholesale-to-retail levels. They use monthly national data for the period 1986-2008, which includes records of FSIS recalls of varying severity and BSE events in the United States and Canada. The authors account for immediate and delayed effects of food scares and for potential cross effects across industries and countries. The results indicate that beef and food recalls do not affect their corresponding price margins and overall food safety incidents have minor cross-industry and cross-country effects. However, BSE discoveries in the United States considerably affect marketing margins in the beef industry, particularly at the wholesale-to-retail level. Interestingly, subsequent discoveries had smaller impacts on price margins. Bovine spongiform encephalopathy outbreaks also appear to affect the extent of price transmission between wholesalers and retailers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parameters that characterize markets for livestock feed ingredients and inform an increasing array of policies motivated by a range of environmental, market, and animal disease issues are largely absent from the literature, which necessitates the use of often misleading assumptions in analyses of proposed feed-market policies. Such parameters are derived here from a theoretically consistent, dual translog cost model of U.S. protein and energy feed markets. Own-price elasticities ranged from a relatively inelastic −0.139 for feedgrains to a relatively elastic −0.568 for meat and bone meal (MBM). The cross elasticity for ethanol co-products and oilseed meals (0.168) is larger than the elasticity with co-products and feedgrains (0.024). Higher prices for protein feeds likely result in some substitution of feed grains for some protein (e.g. corn by oilseed meals = 0.125), which may also partially account for the relatively small feedgrains cross elasticity. Policies implemented as a result of bovine splongiform encephalopathy adversely affected the share of total costs attributed to MBM, but had a positive effect on oilseed meal cost share. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) rapidly evolved into an issue of major public concern particularly when, in 1996, evidence was provided that this disease had crossed the species barrier and infected humans in the UK with what has become known as “variant Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease” (vCJD). The aim of this paper is to describe the European Geographical BSE risk assessment (GBR) that was successfully used for assessing the qualitative likelihood that BSE could be present in a country where it was not yet officially recognized. It also discusses how this can lead to risk-based and therefore preventive management of BSE at national and international levels. The basic assumption of the GBR method is that the BSE agent is initially introduced into a country''s domestic cattle production system through the importation of contaminated feedstuffs or live cattle. This is referred to as an “external challenge”. The ability of the system to cope with such a challenge is, in turn, referred to as its “stability”: a stable system will not allow the BSE agent to propagate and amplify following its introduction, while an unstable system will. The BSE-status of a country assessed by this system was used by the European Commission as the basis for trade legislation rules for cattle and their products. The GBR was an invaluable tool in evaluating the potential global spread of BSE as it demonstrated how a disease could be transferred through international trade. This was shown to be a critical factor to address in reducing the spread and amplification of BSE throughout the world. Furthermore, GBR resulted in the implementation of additional measures and management activities both to improve surveillance and to prevent transmission within the cattle population. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In spite of much analysis of the impact of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) on consumer perceptions and meat purchases, there has been little explicit analysis of the level of BSE knowledge. In this study the role of knowledge about BSE was examined in Canada, the United States, and Japan. In addition, the level of knowledge was linked to human health concerns regarding BSE and whether there is agreement with paying a premium for beef with BSE animal tests. From a public policy perspective, understanding whether higher or lower knowledge is linked to public concern and desire for market intervention might help in the design of risk communication in any future animal disease outbreak. Should lack of knowledge about the disease be related to a public desire for market intervention (animal testing, for example), then an increase in detailed information about how humans might contract the disease might change public pressure for intervention. As compared to U.S. and Canadian respondents, Japanese respondents are more knowledgeable regarding the ways in which humans might be exposed to the human variant of BSE (variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease, vCJD) and are more concerned about the disease. However, U.S. respondents are more willing to pay a premium for beef tested to ensure that it will not result in vCJD. Japanese respondents who are more knowledgeable about BSE are more concerned about the risk of BSE to human health. In Canada, subjects who are more knowledgeable about the ways in which humans attain vCJD are less concerned about the risk of BSE to human health. Knowledge of the ways in which humans develop vCJD does not significantly influence concerns about the risk of BSE to human health in the United States or willingness to pay for BSE-tested beef in any of the three countries. The links between knowledge and concerns about BSE and between knowledge and agreement with paying premiums for BSE-tested beef were estimated for each country using ordered probit regressions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The transmission of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) to human beings and the spread of chronic wasting disease (CWD) among cervids have prompted concerns about zoonotic transmission of prion diseases. Travel to the United Kingdom and other European countries, hunting for deer or elk, and venison consumption could result in the exposure of US residents to the agents that cause BSE and CWD. The Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network 2006-2007 population survey was used to assess the prevalence of these behaviors among residents of 10 catchment areas across the United States. Of 17,372 survey respondents, 19.4% reported travel to the United Kingdom since 1980, and 29.5% reported travel to any of the nine European countries considered to be BSE-endemic since 1980. The proportion of respondents who had ever hunted deer or elk was 18.5%, and 1.2% had hunted deer or elk in a CWD–endemic area. More than two thirds (67.4%) reported having ever eaten deer or elk meat. Respondents who traveled spent more time in the United Kingdom (median 14 days) than in any other BSE-endemic country. Of the 11,635 respondents who had consumed venison, 59.8% ate venison at most one to two times during their year of highest consumption, and 88.6% had obtained all of their meat from the wild. The survey results were useful in determining the prevalence and frequency of behaviors that could be important factors for foodborne prion transmission. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Consumers consistently express concern about the risk of new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (nvCJD) from eating beef. Given several US cows infected with Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) (mad cow disease) and recent findings that the path of transmission of nvCJD remains unknown, the potential for a devastating scare hangs over the beef industry. This experimental research evaluates the ability of industry advertising messages to offset the effects of media messages related to the lack of food safety. Using a nonstudent subject pool, this research finds that beef industry advertising significantly alleviates US consumer safety concerns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Before the discovery of the first Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) cow in May 2003, Canada was the most important exporter of live cattle into the US with a share of 74% of US total live cattle imports. With the outbreak of BSE in Canada, the US ceased imports of Canadian cattle and beef products. This study analyses the short to medium-term effect of the import trade ban for the US economy using a 20 sector, economy wide Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model. Uncertainty about exogenous elasticity values was addressed using Monte Carlo techniques. Beneficiaries of the trade ban are the cattle industry and related sectors, such as feed production and agricultural service providers. The US economy as a whole, however, is negatively affected with a loss of ∼$-1.7 billion in gross domestic product and -11000 jobs. The model shows how the restriction on Canadian cattle imports generates income losses for both rich and poor households in the US. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on the import of beef and related products in relation to the protocol of bovine-Spongiform Encephalopathy for consumption from the Territories of Authorities, represented by the American Institute in Taiwan. It stats that in 2003, Taiwan had imposed a ban on U.S. beef, and it was lifted in April 2005. It mentions that the Protocol raises legal issues, it may not qualify as a treaty within the meaning of the constitution of Taiwan.

The article presents the value of viewing food safety controversies through administrative constitutionalism in the U.S. It highlights the two case studies, which includes the assessment of litigation on the scope of U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to regulate the tobacco and the confidence of Great Britain on the guarded report that dispels the risks of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) to human health. Rethinking on food safety crisis is also emphasized.

We examine how consumers and financial markets in the United States reacted to two health warnings about mad cow disease: the first discovery of an infected cow in December 2003 and an Oprah Winfrey show that aired seven years earlier on the potentially harmful effects of mad cow disease. We find a pronounced and significant reduction in beef sales following the first discovery of an infected cow in a product-level scanner data set of a national grocery chain. Cattle futures show a pattern of abnormal price drops comparable to the scanner data. Contracts with longer maturity show smaller drops, suggesting that the market anticipated the impact to be transitory. Cattle futures show abnormal price drops after the Oprah Winfrey show that are more than 50% of the drop following the 2003 discovery of an infected cow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The detection of the first indigenous case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in Canada on May 20, 2003, had significant consequences for the livestock industry. As a result, borders were closed by several trade partners, particularly the United States. The outbreak led to direct and indirect economic impacts to the “cattle” industry exceeding $6 billion. As a consequence of a number of risk management interventions implemented by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and provincial agencies, the BSE outbreak appears to have been largely contained. The initial results from our study of the socioeconomic and psychosocial impact of BSE on the health and well-being of rural and farm families living in Canada, a topic that remains largely unexamined are presented. Our analysis of the outbreak raises a number of questions concerning the resulting consequences for farmers, their families, and their communities, including considerations from a social determinants' of health perspective. In particular, our preliminary findings reveal that 5 years following the detection of the first indigenous case of BSE in Canada, ongoing uncertainty and stress resulting from unrecoverable financial losses continue to weigh heavily on the health and well-being of farmers, their families, and survival and sustainability of agricultural communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined coverage of the December 2003 bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) event to discover impact of reporters' work role identities on news story source choices and to explore implications of results for agricultural crisis coverage. Content analysis was performed on 62 stories from U.S. newspapers in the Lexis Nexis database, selected through keyword search December 23,2003 through October 31, 2004. These stories were divided into two equal groups based on reporters' work-role identity (dichotomized between science-specialty beat reporters and non-specialty reporters) and analyzed by length, number of sources, and source variety. ANOVA and bivariate correlation statistics were used. Results indicated no statistically significant differences in mean story length or mean number of sources for stories written by science-specialty beat reporters and those written by non-specialty reporters. However, while mean overall source variety did not differ between the two reporter groups, work-role identify correlated with use of scientists and agricultural scientists as sources: science-specialty beat reporters used more such sources than did non-specialty reporters. Although this study was limited by small sample size and restriction to the first U.S. BSE event, the above findings may prove useful to agricultural public information officers and media relations practitioners in "pitching" stories and sources for similar agriculture-based crises. In particular, this study addresses priorities stated in the National Research Agenda -- the desire of agricultural communicators to "aid the public in effectively participating in decision-making related to agriculture, " through providing information on which such decisions can be based (RPA2,2007-2010, p. 4) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The U.S. NAFTA partners are important markets for U.S. meat exports. A source-differentiated almost ideal demand system is used in this study to estimate meat demand in Canada and Mexico. Empirical results suggest that while a U.S. price increase in the Canadian market is expected to increase U.S. sales revenues; it would decrease sales revenues in the Mexican market. Furthermore, an increase in meat expenditures in Canada and Mexico is expected to increase the demand for U.S. meats, while the bovine spongiform encephalopathy outbreaks have had a negative effect on U.S. and Canadian beef market shares. Finally, a decomposition of the causes of changes in demand for U.S. meats over time is performed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dietary consumption of fish is widely recommended because of the beneficial effects of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids on the risks of cardiovascular and Alzheimer's diseases. The American Heart Association currently recommends eating at least two servings of fish per week. We are concerned that consumption of farmed fish may provide a means of transmission of infectious prions from cows with bovine spongiform encephalopathy to humans, causing variant Creutzfeldt Jakob disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following the detection of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in Canada, and subsequently in the United States, confidence in the safety of beef products remained high. Consumers actually increased their consumption of beef slightly after the news of an increased risk from mad cow disease, which has been interpreted as public support for beef farmers and confidence in government regulators. The Canadian public showed a markedly different reaction to the news of domestic BSE than the furious and panicked responses observed in the United Kingdom, Germany, and Japan. Using the social amplification of risk framework, we show that, while other countries displayed social amplification of risk, Canada experienced a social attenuation of risk. The attenuated reaction in Canada toward mad cow disease and increased human health risks from variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) was due to the social context at the time when BSE was discovered domestically. Mortality, morbidity, and psychosocial impacts resulting from other major events such as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), West Nile virus (WNV), and the U.S.-Iraq war made the theoretical risks of BSE and vCJD a lower priority, reducing its concern as a risk issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Americans consume about 5 billion hamburgers a year. It is presumed that most hamburgers are composed primarily of meat. The purpose of this study is to assess the content of 8 fast food hamburger brands using histologic methods. Eight different brands of hamburgers were evaluated for water content by weight and microscopically for recognizable tissue types. Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) staining was used to evaluate for brain tissue. Water content by weight ranged from 37.7% to 62.4% (mean, 49%). Meat content in the hamburgers ranged from 2.1% to 14.8% (median, 12.1%). The cost per gram of hamburger ranged from $0.02 to $0.16 (median, $0.03) and did not correlate with meat content. Electron microscopy showed relatively preserved skeletal muscle. A variety of tissue types besides skeletal muscle were observed including connective tissue (n = 8), blood vessels (n = 8), peripheral nerve (n = 8), adipose tissue (n = 7), plant material (n = 4), cartilage (n = 3), and bone (n = 2). In 2 hamburgers, intracellular parasites (Sarcocystis) were identified. The GFAP immunostaining was not observed in any of the hamburgers. Lipid content on oil-red-O staining was graded as 1+ (moderate) in 6 burgers and 2+ (marked) in 2 burgers. Fast food hamburgers are comprised of little meat (median, 12.1%). Approximately half of their weight is made up of water. Unexpected tissue types found in some hamburgers included bone, cartilage, and plant material; no brain tissue was present. Sarcocystis parasites were discovered in 2 hamburgers. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article focuses on the effects all 16 North American Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) cases on daily live cattle futures prices of six maturities. It aims to examine whether any of these 16 BSE cases may have caused a structural break in live cattle future prices; and the magnitude and persistence of the impact of BSE cases on future prices and price volatility by BSE case origin, chronology, and contract maturity month. The author discovered that the live cattle futures market experienced a structural break in October 2003, which may have been due to the 2003 Canadian BSE case followed by an immediate import ban by the U.S. on Canadian cattle and beef products.

After the detection of the first case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in the United States in December 2003, the Japanese government halted all imports of U.S. beef. The BSE risk in beef is partly dependent on the slaughter age of the cattle from which it is derived. In Japan, all cattle 21 months old and older are screened using a rapid diagnostic test, while in the United States, routine BSE testing is not done at any age of slaughter cattle. In the United States, there is no nationally mandated cattle identification system that enables cattle younger than 21 months to be identified. Therefore, all beef potentially produced for export to Japan must be from cattle that are age verified as younger than 21 months old or be classified by the U.S. Department of Agriculture using a carcass maturity score, which in turn is related to the age of the animal from which the beef is derived. After consulting the Food Safety Commission, the Japanese government decided on 12 December 2005 to allow importation of beef from the United States derived from cattle with a carcass maturity score of ≤A40 and from which specified risk materials are removed. In this study, a stochastic model was used to simulate the interval of time from slaughter to the predicted clinical onset of BSE in an infected animal. A simulation result, based on the assumption that the BSE prevalence is equivalent in the two countries, revealed that there was no increased risk of BSE infectivity in beef coming from carcasses with a maturity score of ≤A40 in the United States, compared with beef from cattle younger than 21 months slaughtered in Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A case of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) was found on December, 2003 in the United States, which affected offshore and domestic demands for US beef. This study evaluates the effects of the BSE outbreak on the security values of the US agribusiness and food processing firms, using an event study. Empirical results indicate that the beef industry was significantly, negatively affected, but other meat industries benefited significantly. For the sectors not immediately involved with beef products, the effects were small or negligible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In 2006, an atypical U.S. case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) was discovered in Alabama and later reported to be polymorphic for glutamate (E) and lysine (K) codons at position 211 in the bovine prion protein gene (Prnp) coding sequence. A bovine E211K mutation is important because it is analogous to the most common pathogenic mutation in humans (E200K) which causes hereditary Creutzfeldt - Jakob disease, an autosomal dominant form of prion disease. The present report describes a high-throughput matrix-associated laser desorption/ionization-time-of-flight mass spectrometry assay for scoring the Prnp E211K variant and its use to determine an upper limit for the K211 allele frequency in U.S. cattle. Results: The K211 allele was not detected in 6062 cattle, including those from five commercial beef processing plants (3892 carcasses) and 2170 registered cattle from 42 breeds. Multiple nearby polymorphisms in Prnp coding sequence of 1456 diverse purebred cattle (42 breeds) did not interfere with scoring E211 or K211 alleles. Based on these results, the upper bounds for prevalence of the E211K variant was estimated to be extremely low, less than 1 in 2000 cattle (Bayesian analysis based on 95% quantile of the posterior distribution with a uniform prior). Conclusion: No groups or breeds of U.S. cattle are presently known to harbor the Prnp K211 allele. Because a carrier was not detected, the number of additional atypical BSE cases with K211 will also be vanishingly low. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on the study of newspaper reporting about mad cow disease in the United States. The study aims to examine how newspapers in different parts of the United States reported about mad cow disease. It uses a content analysis in investigating the difference of coastal newspapers and Midwest newspapers in story frame, source credibility, and elicited emotions. Its examined coast and Midwest newspapers include "The New York Times," "he Chicago-Sun Times," and the "Houston Chronicle."

U.S. trade of beef and live cattle declined substantially after the discoveries of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in Canada and the United States in 2003. In this study, an econometric model is developed to estimate the effects of lifting trade restrictions on U.S. cattle and beef prices. Results show that increases in imports of Canadian cattle and beef would lower prices of slaughter steers, feeder steers, and retail beef, but these negative impacts would be more than negated by the positive effects on prices that would result if beef exports return to near pre-BSE levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article addresses the dynamic impact of the 2003 Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy discovery on the U.S. beef sector. Time series analysis and historical decomposition with weekly feedlot, wholesale, and retail beef price series is used to address the dynamics of price adjustment and causality along the U.S. beef marketing channel. The results show price transmission is bidirectional, determined through interaction between the different stages, and price adjustment is asymmetric with respect to both speed and magnitude. The results reveal a differential impact of the exogenous shock on producers and retailers, which leads to widening of price margins and points to imperfect price transmission, specifically at the retail level, with consequences for the efficiency and equity of the marketing channel. [EconLit citations: Q11, Q13]. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Agribusiness 23: 333–348, 2007. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The performance characteristics of two enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test kits, ELISA Technologies' MELISA-Tek test and Tepnel BioSystems' BioKit for (Cooked) Species Identification test, designed to detect ruminant proteins in animal feed, were evaluated. The test kits were evaluated by using acceptance criteria developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Center for Veterinary Medicine Office of Research for evaluating selectivity, sensitivity, ruggedness, and specificity. The acceptance criteria for determining success used a statistical approach requiring a 90% probability of achieving the correct response within a 95% confidence interval. In practice, this measure requires the test to achieve the correct response 58 times for every 60 samples evaluated, or a 96.7% accuracy rate. A minimum detection level of 0.1% bovine meat and bone meal (BMBM) was required, consistent with the sensitivity of the analytical methods presently used by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Selectivity was assessed by testing 60 dairy feed samples that contained no added animal proteins; sensitivity was determined by evaluating 60 samples (per level of fortification) of this same feed that contained 0.025, 0.05, 0.1, 0.25, 0.5, 1, or 2% BMBM. The MELISA-Tek test passed the acceptance set-point criteria for selectivity assessment but failed the sensitivity assessment at all levels except at the 2% level. The MELISA-Tek test came close to passing at the 1% level, detecting true-positive findings at a rate of 93%, but failed at lower levels, in spite of the label claim of 0.5% sensitivity. The BioKit for (Cooked) Species Identification test detected only 2 of 17 samples fortified at the 2% BMBM level and failed to detect any other BMBM-fortified samples. The results of this evaluation indicate that neither test is adequate for regulatory use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objectives of this study were 1) to investigate the effect of changes in carcass market prices due to bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) occurrences on estimates of genetic parameters and economic weights for carcass traits; and 2) to compare direct and indirect approaches for prediction of genetic merit of Japanese Black cattle for profitability of their progeny. The direct approach utilized estimated breeding values of carcass prices, whereas in the indirect approach, selection indices were constructed as products of economic weights and breeding values of component traits. Data were composed of 80,191 carcass records divided into 5 periods based on changes in carcass prices as a result of occurrences of BSE in Japan and the United States. The periods ranged from a period before occurrence of BSE in Japan to a period of beef import restrictions and a rise in prices. Carcass traits analyzed included HCW, LM area, rib thickness, subcutaneous fat thickness, and marbling score (MS). Price traits included carcass unit price and carcass sale price. Estimates of heritability for price traits were moderate (0.32 to 0.46) and slightly sensitive to changes in carcass market prices. Genetic correlations of HCW and LM area with price traits increased and that between MS and carcass sale price decreased with period, whereas estimates of genetic correlation between MS and carcass unit price were high in all periods (0.96 to 0.98). Economic weights for carcass traits varied with periods because carcass prices were highly sensitive to economic importance of traits. Nevertheless, correlations between within-period breeding values for price traits estimated using direct and indirect approaches were high (0.92 to 0.99). This result indicates that selection realized by direct and indirect approaches will provide very similar results. A comparison among within-approach breeding values estimated in different periods showed that the largest differences in breeding values of sires for price traits were between the periods after occurrences of BSE in Japan and in the United States. Economic effects of BSE occurrences influenced the importance of carcass traits and economic merits of price traits through a change of carcass prices from period to period, irrespective of the approach taken in determining the genetic merit of breeding animals for profitability of their progeny. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and haplotype alleles within the prion gene ( PRNP) coding sequence of domestic sheep ( Ovis aries) are associated with genetic predisposition to scrapie, a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy disease of sheep. This report describes regions of linkage disequilibrium (LD) throughout the PRNP gene region in U.S. sheep and provides a genetic framework for identifying additional PRNP determinants associated with scrapie resistance. Four sequence tagged sites (i.e., STS or amplicons) totaling 3869 bp and spanning 20 kbp of genomic PRNP sequence were sequenced in a diverse panel of 90 sires representing ten popular U.S. breeds of sheep. Analysis of these sequences identified 36 previously unreported polymorphisms. In combination with two previously characterized STS, 62 polymorphisms were analyzed in a 20-kbp PRNP region in this panel of U.S. sheep. Two regions of strong LD and ten common haplotypes were identified. The haplotype encoding amino acid residues A, R, and Q at codons 136, 154, and 171, respectively, was observed on nine larger haplotypes spanning PRNP from the promoter region to the 3′ untranslated region. The haplotype encoding VRQ was observed on two larger haplotypes, whereas ARR, ARH, and AHQ were each present on a single haplotype. The existence of multiple haplotypes encoding ARQ raises the question of whether sheep bearing these different haplotypes are equally susceptible to scrapie. The haplotype structure within the 20-kbp region of PRNP identified in this study is important for higher-resolution analysis of genetics contributions to scrapie susceptibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) is a human prion disease caused by infection with the agent of bovine spongiform encephalopathy. After the recognition of vCJD in the UK in 1996, many nations implemented policies intended to reduce the hypothetical risk of transfusion transmission of vCJD. This was despite the fact that no cases of transfusion transmission had yet been identified. In December 2003, however, the first case of vCJD in a recipient of blood from a vCJD-infected donor was announced. The aim of this study is to ascertain and compare the factors that influenced the motivation for and the design of regulations to prevent transfusion transmission of vCJD in the UK and US prior to the recognition of this case. Methods and Findings A document search was conducted to identify US and UK governmental policy statements and guidance, transcripts (or minutes when transcripts were not available) of scientific advisory committee meetings, research articles, and editorials published in medical and scientific journals on the topic of vCJD and blood transfusion transmission between March 1996 and December 2003. In addition, 40 interviews were conducted with individuals familiar with the decision-making process and/or the science involved. All documents and transcripts were coded and analyzed according to the methods and principles of grounded theory. Data showed that while resulting policies were based on the available science, social and historical factors played a major role in the motivation for and the design of regulations to protect against transfusion transmission of vCJD. First, recent experience with and collective guilt resulting from the transfusion-transmitted epidemics of HIV/AIDS in both countries served as a major, historically specific impetus for such policies. This history was brought to bear both by hemophilia activists and those charged with regulating blood products in the US and UK. Second, local specificities, such as the recall of blood products for possible vCJD contamination in the UK, contributed to a greater sense of urgency and a speedier implementation of regulations in that country. Third, while the results of scientific studies played a prominent role in the construction of regulations in both nations, this role was shaped by existing social and professional networks. In the UK, early focus on a European study implicating B-lymphocytes as the carrier of prion infectivity in blood led to the introduction of a policy that requires universal leukoreduction of blood components. In the US, early focus on an American study highlighting the ability of plasma to serve as a reservoir of prion infectivity led the FDA and its advisory panel to eschew similar measures. Conclusions The results of this study yield three important theoretical insights that pertain to the global management of emerging infectious diseases. First, because the perception and management of disease may be shaped by previous experience with disease, especially catastrophic experience, there is always the possibility for over-management of some possible routes of transmission and relative neglect of others. Second, local specificities within a given nation may influence the temporality of decision making, which in turn may influence the choice of disease management policies. Third, a preference for science-based risk management among nations will not necessarily lead to homogeneous policies. This is because the exposure to and interpretation of scientific results depends on the existing social and professional networks within a given nation. Together, these theoretical insights provide a framework for analyzing and anticipating potential conflicts in the international management of emerging infectious diseases. In addition, this study illustrates the utility of qualitative methods in investigating research questions that are difficult to assess through quantitative means. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores the nature of foodborne illness in the U.S. It details how the livestock industry and U.S. Dept. of Agriculture implemented the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) as a response to the discovery of mad-cow disease or Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE). It discusses the foodborne illness law which will demonstrate the difficulties injured consumers face in proving their cases. It argues that negligence should govern cases involving producers and victims of foodborne illness.

Objectivity is a hallmark of good journalism. Objective news writing is particularly important when covering agricultural issues. In this study, researchers used the Hayakawa-Lowry news bias categories to examine the objectivity of news coverage of the bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) outbreak that occurred December 23, 2003, in the United States. The study looked at 149 articles published in USA Today, The Washington Post, and The Seattle Times, dating from the day of the outbreak to February 10, 2004, when the USDA concluded its investigation of the outbreak. Based on the findings, the three newspapers studied were more objective than judgmental in their coverage of the outbreak. Although judgment statements were relatively uncommon, the majority of the judgment statements found were negative toward agriculture. Analysis of the level of objectivity for each newspaper revealed that USA Today was the least objective in its coverage; The Seattle Times was the most objective. This study recommends that reporters be encouraged to include more objective sentences in their writing, that journalism and agricultural communications students be educated about the Hayakawa-Lowry news bias categories, that additional research be conducted on media coverage of other agricultural issues, and that the agricultural literacy level of journalists be examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent health scares such as BSE have contributed to the growth of local farmers' markets and consumption of organics sourced globally (Morgan et al., 2006). Yet a central question about alternative agro-food networks (AAFNs) is whether they supply undemocratic diets chiefly for elites (Goodman, 2004). This is relevant to government campaigns such as ‘Generation Scotland’ and ‘5 A Day’ in the UK, and ‘Food Pyramids’ in the US, which promote better diets for their entire populations. Firefighting is risky work and because firefighters inhabit middle rungs on the socioeconomic ladder, and food is seen as key to morale and fitness, they are suitable consumers to query on food and risk. This firefighter survey presents evidence that alternative foods are gaining value in the UK and US study areas used here. Though Newcastle, UK, lags behind Seattle, US, on a continuum from conventional to alternative food systems, consumption of alternative foods by Newcastle firefighters is greater than that of workers surveyed in Edinburgh a decade before (Tregear, 1994), implying that northern UK diets could turn greener if availability and prices improve. Reasons why organic preference seems stronger among firefighters in northwestern US, than in northern UK where local preference appears stronger, are discussed, as well as theorisation of consumer response to a variety of risks over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The discovery of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in the United States made an impact on the beef industry. Determining how the BSE outbreak was framed by the news media is significant because research indicates that media shape public perceptions. This study examined how several key newspapers framed the 2003 outbreak of BSE in the United States. Determining how the media framed this issue can help communicators ensure bias-free media coverage of similar issues in the future. The study followed established framing analysis categories identified from the literature. There were 149 articles identified in The Washington Post, The Seattle Times, and USA Today for investigation in this study. Findings showed that the BSE issue was framed as an industry crisis and that the tone of the articles and headlines portrayed the beef industry negatively. When compared to the other two newspapers, USA Today framed the issue differently, with economic calamity being the dominant frame. The most heavily cited sources in the articles were government officials. This study recommends that media professionals avoid framing an issue for the public, focusing instead on reporting news in an objective and unbiased manner. Further research is recommended to examine the impact of tone and frame on specific audiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]