Backgrounder

Harvard University-U.S. Department of Agriculture BSE Study


     The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is responsible for
protecting both human and animal health and for ensuring the safety and
security of our food supply.  The Department's efforts have been effective in
keeping bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), a fatal neurodegenerative
disease of cattle, out of the United States.  

     BSE was first diagnosed in 1986 in the United Kingdom.  It has since
affected approximately 170,000 cattle in the U.K. and other European
countries.  Recent scientific studies suggest that BSE may be linked through
consumption of BSE-infected tissues to new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease,
a fatal neurodegenerative disease in humans.  

     USDA has taken aggressive measures to prevent the entry of BSE into the
U.S.  These measures include banning cattle and cattle products from countries
where BSE has been reported or where adequate surveillance programs are not in
place; monitoring and testing for BSE in U.S. cattle; and educating producers
and the public about the disease.  

     USDA has entered into a cooperative agreement with Harvard University's
School of Public Health to begin an analysis and evaluation of the
Department's current measures to prevent BSE. Harvard University researchers
will review existing science on the disease in order to: 

         characterize the hazards of BSE and other transmissible spongiform
encephalopathy agents to human and animal health

         assess potential pathways that BSE could enter the U.S.

         evaluate existing USDA regulations and policies

         identify any additional preventive measures that could be taken


     While this study is being conducted, USDA will continue to aggressively
test and monitor for BSE and will institute any preventive regulatory measures
that are necessary.    

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April 24, 1998