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RSS FeedHow Now, Mad Cow?
by Worldwatch Institute on March 8, 2001
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The spread of mad cow disease and foot-and-mouth show that no country-including the United States-is immune to the threat of animal borne illnesses, says Brian Halweil, researcher at the Worldwatch Institute, a Washington, D.C. based environmental research organization. But in the U.S., the meat industry and government officials are singing the same tune as British officials 15 years ago, when the British authorities consistently downplayed news of the emergence of BSE (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy or 'mad cow') disease. "Two major trends have combined to significantly increase the risks posed to the American public by the spread of diseases like mad cow," Halweil says. "First, factory farming creates perfect conditions for rapid infection of large numbers of animals. Then, globalization-trade in goods and services and intercontinental airline travel-virtually guarantees that diseases can move swiftly across borders. "Foot-and-mouth is already a problem in South America. The recently completed Panamerican highway from Colombia to the United States virtually guarantees that the disease will make its way up north. Similarly, a Brit with the foot-and-mouth virus hitchhiking on his shoes can board a plane in London and be on a Texas cattle ranch in a matter of hours. "Government officials and the American meat industry are dragging their heals on this issue and potentially putting all American meat-eaters at risk. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's own surveys show that one in four slaughterhouses and feed processing plants still fail to comply with steps to prevent mad cow disease. "Only systematic reform will prevent future outbreaks. Right now it's not a matter of if, but of when these diseases and other emerging epidemics will plague Americans." Germany's Minister for Agriculture recently called for wholesale changes in agricultural policy and farm practices to meet environmental and public health goals. "It's time for America's leaders to wake up," says Halweil. "We need reforms at the national level, but in the end, it's a global issue-trade is global, disease is global and protecting public health must become global too." --End-- Brian Halweil is a Research Associate at the Worldwatch Institute, who focuses on the social and ecological effects of how we produce food. He has written on biotechnolgy, loss of farmers, population and malnutrition. FOR FURTHER COMMENT OR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT Brian Halweil, Research Associate. Email: halweil@worldwatch.org Leanne Mitchell, Public Relations Specialist. Email: lmitchell@worldwatch.org
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