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Bovine spongiform encephalopathy and variant Creutzfeldt–Jakoh disease: implications for Australia
Author(s) -
Goldwater Paul N
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
medical journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1326-5377
pISSN - 0025-729X
DOI - 10.5694/j.1326-5377.2001.tb143065.x
Subject(s) - bovine spongiform encephalopathy , scrapie , zoonosis , transmissible spongiform encephalopathy , virology , disease , epizootic , biology , medicine , prion protein , outbreak , pathology
The bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) epizootic developed in the United Kingdom in the mid‐1980s. Feeding practices in the cattle industry amplified the causative prion, and meat contaminated with BSE entered the market. Human consumption of prion‐contaminated meat led to the new zoonosis — variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (vCJD). The UK BSE Inquiry published its report in October 2000; while praising policy decisions, it also documented failures in the execution of these policies, specifically delays and lack of rigour. Australia is in an excellent position to maintain its BSE‐ and scrapie‐free status, but widespread active surveillance of neural and non‐neural tissue from all species of farmed quadrupeds is needed.