The World Health Organization’s Maura Ricketts presented her organization’s October 2002 report on Mad Cow disease in late January. The report warns that Eastern European and Asian countries are still vulnerable to possible outbreaks of the disease.
The report notes that the key to preventing BSE is to ensure that meat and bone meal from ruminants is not be fed back to ruminants. A few countries have gone further and enacted laws banning the use of meat and bone meal from ruminants in animal feed altogether.
The report also finds that other than Europe, Australia, New Zealand and some countries in the Pacific Rim and Americas, much of the world lacks any sort of active surveillance system to detect BSE.
On the other hand, all of the available evidence — including from the WHO report — is that BSE is far less of a threat to human health than most existing foodborne illnesses and diseases. According to WHO, worldwide from 1994 to 2001, there were a total of 122 deaths either confirmed or probably caused by vCJD which is believed to be caused from exposure to BSE. There are a total of 11 other individuals who are still alive but have conditionally been diagnosed with vCJD (an accurate diagnosis of vCJD is impossible, at the moment, before death of an individual afflicted with the disease).
Source:
Understanding the BSE Threat. World Health Organization, October 2002.
World health body warns that mad cow still a risk. Reuters, Richard Waddington, January 30, 2003.