Mad Cow Crisis Research Articles

Nestling sex ratio is unaffected by individual and population traits in the griffon vulture.

Variation in offspring sex ratios is a central topic in animal demography and population dynamics. Most studies have focused on bird species with marked sexual dimorphism and multiple-nestling broods, where the offspring sex ratio is often biased due to different individual or environmental variables. However, biases in offspring sex ratios have been far less investigated in monomorphic and single-egg laying species, and few studies have evaluated long-term and large-scale variations in the sex ratio of nestling vultures. Here, we explore individual and environmental factors potentially affecting the secondary sex ratio of the monomorphic griffon vulture Gyps fulvus. We used information collected at three breeding nuclei from central Spain over a 30-year period (1990-2020) to analyse the effects of nestling age, parental age, breeding phenology, conspecific density, population reproductive parameters, and spatial and temporal variability on nestling sex. Sex ratio did not differ from parity either at the population or the nuclei level. No significant between-year differences were detected, even under highly changing conditions of food availability associated with the mad-cow crisis. We found that tree nesting breeders tend to have more sons than daughters, but as this nesting behavior is rare and we consequently have a small sample size, this issue would require additional examination. Whereas further research is needed to assess the potential effect of breeder identity on nestling sex ratio, this study contributes to understanding the basic ecology and population dynamics of Griffon Vultures, a long-lived species with deferred maturity and low fecundity, whose minor deviations in the offspring sex ratio might imply major changes at the population level.

Enhancing global health communication during a crisis: lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The understanding and practice of public health crisis communication are improved through the study of responses to past crises, but require retooling for present challenges. The 'Addressing Ebola and other outbreaks' checklist contains guiding principles built upon maxims developed from a World Health Organization consultation in response to the mad cow (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) crisis that were later adopted for Ebola. The purpose of this article is to adapt the checklist for the health communication challenges and public health practices that have emerged during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The communication challenges of promoting vaccine acceptance are used to illustrate a key area that requires strengthened communication. Type of program or service: Effective communication principles for application during the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic has introduced unique challenges for public health practitioners and health communicators that warrant an expansion of existing health communication principles to take into consideration: the new infodemic (or mis/disinfodemic) challenge - particularly as treatments and vaccines are being developed; communication of risk and uncertainty; health-information behaviours and the instantaneous nature of social media, and the relationship between media literacy and health literacy; the effects of the pandemic on other health issues; and the need for a flexible communication strategy that adapts to the different stages of the pandemic. Principles discussed in this article will help build preparedness capacity and offer communication strategies for moving from the acute phase to the 'next normal' with likely prevention (e.g. herd immunity achieved through vaccination) and societal COVID-19 resilience.

La concurrence des normativités au cœur de la labellisation du bien-être animal

Dans un contexte de profonde remise en cause de l’élevage dit « intensif » tendant à englober l’ensemble de la filière élevage sans distinction des pratiques, certains producteurs et partisans d’une meilleure protection des animaux de ferme voient en l’information des consommateurs en matière de bien-être animal un levier d’amélioration du sort des animaux et des acteurs de la filière. Cependant, l’augmentation de la quantité d’information ne se traduit pas toujours par une meilleure transparence quant aux méthodes de production. Au contraire, comme cela est le cas dans les points de vente français, l’excès d’information peut s’avérer aussi délétère que le manque de fiabilité des données communiquées. En l’absence d’une information de qualité, il est à craindre qu’une crise de confiance ne s’installe avant même que l’efficacité d’une régulation par l’information dans le domaine du bien-être animal ait pu être éprouvée. Une analyse des normes en matière de bien-être animal sous le prisme du phénomène de concurrence qui joue entre elles permet de distinguer l’information de qualité de celle de moindre qualité, en vue de prévenir la crise de confiance chez les consommateurs.

Veterinary Public Health in Italy: From Healthy Animals to Healthy Food, Contribution to Improve Economy in Developing Countries.

The role of the veterinarian as a public health officer is intrinsic to the history and the culture of veterinary organization in Italy. The Veterinary service being part of the Health administration since the birth of the Italian State in the XIX Century. In the second half of the last century the birth of the Italian National Health Service confirmed that the function of the Italian veterinary service was to analyze and reduce the risks for the human population connected to the relationship man-animal-environment, animal health, food safety and security. The Italian Veterinary Medicine School curricula, reflected this "model" of veterinarian as well. In the majority of countries in the world, Veterinary Services are organized within the Agriculture Administration with the main function to assure animal health and wellbeing. After the so-called "Mad-cow crisis" the awareness of the direct and essential role of veterinary services in the prevention of human illness has been officially recognized and in the third millennium the old concept of "one health" and "human-animal interface" has gained popularity worldwide.The concept of Veterinary Public Health, has evolved at International level and has incorporated the more than a century old vision of the Italian Veterinary medicine and it is defined as "the sum of the contributions to the physical, mental and social development of people through the knowledge and application of veterinary science" (WHO, Future trends in veterinary public health. Gruppo di lavoro OMS: TE, Italy, 1999, Available from: http://www.who.int/zoonoses/vph/en/ . Last visited 16 Feb 2016, 1999).On the subject of Cooperation, Sustainability and Public Health, the EXPO 2015 event and the activities of international organizations WHO, FAO and World Organization for Animal Health are refocusing at present their worldwide mandate to protect human health and the economy of both the poorest Countries and the developed countries, according to the "new" concept of Veterinary Public Health.Focus of Italian Veterinary Services activity is connected to research, diagnosis and epidemiological analysis of infectious diseases, including zoonosis, food safety as well as food security.

From Mad Cows to GMOs: The Side Effects of Modernization

Ulrich Beck's Risk Society: Towards a New Modernity provides a lens through which we can analyze contemporary debates over risk regulation of agricultural biotechnology. This article establishes the political and cultural context into which genetically modified organisms (GMOs) were introduced in the European Union, by reviewing the HIV-contaminated blood scandal, mad cow crisis, and dioxin contamination episode. These public health and food safety scandals exemplify the side effects of modernization as outlined by Beck. Beck also predicted the development of a solidarity arising from the public's anxiety over the global distribution of modernization's risks. The impact of these cases on risk regulation illustrates the political and social reaction to the invisible, global risks of late modernity. The subsequent response to this reaction in European risk regulation further demonstrates the tension between a globalizing market and public anxiety in risk society.

Canadian Policy Interventions During The Mad Cow Crisis: Cause and Consequence of First Nation Exclusion

This paper presents the results of policy research to determine the extent to which First Nation cattle producers in Saskatchewan, Canada applied for and received government financial support following the 2003 Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (Mad Cow Disease) crisis. Findings indicate a 3% participation rate among First Nation producers compared to 80% participation rate for non-First Nation producers during the same period. It is argued that if the federal and provincial governments of Canada continue their policies of indifference towards First Nation agriculture, it is unlikely that agricultural will ever serve as a viable economic opportunity for First Nations in Canada.

Risk Perception, Culture and Legal Change: A Comparative Study on Food Safety in the Wake of the Mad Cow Crisis, by Matteo Ferrari. Farnham: Ashgate Publishing Limited, 2009, 216 pp., £52.25, Hardcover.

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ESTEEM: Managing societal acceptance in new energy projects: A toolbox method for project managers

There is now a large literature dealing with the policy question of public participation in technical choice and technology assessment (TA). Files such as the mad cow crisis, genetically modified food, and the emerging nanotechnologies have been edified into a public problem, and have given place to a number of experiments and reviews about participatory arrangements. Much less attention has been devoted so far to the application of the TA framework to more local and limited projects–not yet and maybe never reaching the public problem status–and the management of their societal dimensions. Among them, new energy technology represents a very interesting field for investigation: many of the new energy enjoy a global positive public image whereas the local implementation of their implantation often raises societal questions and oppositions. This paper describes an original experiment conducted in the field of new energy technologies during which a participatory technology assessment inspired approach was applied to a number of individual and local projects. A framework methodology called ESTEEM was developed to facilitate such participatory process to take place, and it was tested and evaluated in 5 projects located in 5 different countries over Europe. A detailed discussion of the ESTEEM method and its application to one case study, a Carbon Sequestration project in The Netherlands, is provided. We show that a major question in the application in such participatory framework is to establish a reflective practice of project management based on situated and constructive interactions between project promoters and project stakeholders.

Progress and limits of TSE diagnostic tools

Following the two "mad cow" crises of 1996 and 2000, there was an urgent need for rapid and sensitive diagnostic methods to identify animals infected with the bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) agent. This stimulated research in the field of prion diagnosis and led to the establishment of numerous so-called "rapid tests" which have been in use in Europe since 2001 for monitoring at-risk populations (rendering plants) and animals slaughtered for human consumption (slaughterhouse). These rapid tests have played a critical role in the management of the mad cow crisis by allowing the removal of prion infected carcasses from the human food chain, and by allowing a precise epidemiological monitoring of the BSE epizootic. They are all based on the detection of the abnormal form of the prion protein (PrP(Sc) or PrP(res)) in brain tissues and consequently are only suitable for post-mortem diagnosis. Since it is now very clear that variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) can be transmitted by blood transfusion, the development of a blood test for the diagnosis of vCJD is a top priority. Although significant progress has been made in this direction, including the development of the protein misfolding cyclic amplification (PMCA) technology, at the time this paper was written, this objective had not yet been achieved. This is the most important challenge for the years to come in this field of prion research.

Risk Perception, Culture and Legal Change: A Comparative Study on Food Safety in the Aftermath of the Mad Cow Crisis

Risk Perception, Culture and Legal Change: A Comparative Study on Food Safety in the Aftermath of the Mad Cow Crisis

Processual Learning, Environmental Pluralism, and Inherent Challenges of Managing a Socioeconomic Crisis: The Case of the Canadian Mad Cow Crisis

On May 20, 2003, the report of a single infected cow caused Canada to join the list of countries infected with Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), more commonly known as “mad cow” disease. In this article, by considering the Canadian cattle industry as a political economy, the authors assess factual aspects of the first year of the Canadian BSE crisis from a crisis management perspective. Literature suggests that the processual approach of crisis management can assist marketers in improving their responsiveness to socioeconomic disasters, thereby extending the significance of crisis management theory in marketing. Building a responsive, learning-based approach to crisis management should lead marketers to appreciate the plurality of their environment, the primary source of uncertainty. Building a responsive, learning-based approach to crisis management into the industry will safeguard both the industry and the public against both further socioeconomic crises and further food safety concerns.

The Cow That Stole Christmas: Framing the First U.S. Mad Cow Crisis

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.

Private labels and public quality standards: How can consumer trust be restored after the mad cow crisis?

In those sectors faced with questions of food safety (meat, fruit, vegetables), new private labels have been set up in Europe in order to restore consumer trust. In this paper, we perform a theoretical analysis of these private labels. We propose an original model of vertical relationships between producers and retailers which takes into account two supply sources through (i) a competitive spot market on which the retailers buy a minimum quality standard product and (ii) supply contracts aimed at marketing higher quality private labels. We study how producers and retailers could cooperate in setting up these new labels. From a public point of view, we show the complementarity of a moderate increase in public quality standards and the creation of these new private labels.

Minimum quality standards, premium private labels, and European meat and fresh produce retailing

This article treats the interaction between decisions of public policy makers and private enterprises in the definition and implementation of standards, in particular with respect to food safety. Based on the observation that European retail chains are becoming increasingly engaged in specifying the conditions of agrifood production, we describe the nature and determinants of the strategies adopted by retailers following the mad cow crisis. We compare these strategies in the beef and the produce (fruit and vegetables) sectors. Due to the different conditions facing both governments and private actors in the two sectors, this comparison permits us to characterize the variables that condition the strategies of the retailers, collectively and individually. The paper then analyses how the levels and the monitoring systems of the standards formulated and enforced by governments, influence the strategies of retail chains. That analysis leads to conclusions regarding what variables governments should take into account when they define minimum quality standards.

Emotional and Deliberative Reactions to a Public Crisis

Although most theories of choice are cognitive, recent research has emphasized the role of emotions. We used a novel context--the Mad Cow crisis in France--to investigate how emotions alter choice even when consequences are held constant. A field study showed that individuals reduced beef consumption in months after many newspaper articles featured the emotional label "Mad Cow," but beef consumption was unaffected after articles featured scientific labels for the same disease. The reverse pattern held for the disease-related actions of a government bureaucracy. A lab study showed that the Mad Cow label induces people to make choices based solely on emotional reactions, whereas scientific labels induce people to consider their own probability judgments. Although the Mad Cow label produces less rational behavior than scientific labels, it is two to four times more common in the environment.

Combination of support vector machines (SVM) and near‐infrared (NIR) imaging spectroscopy for the detection of meat and bone meal (MBM) in compound feeds

AbstractThis study concerns the development of a new system to detect meat and bone meal (MBM) in compound feeds, which will be used to enforce legislation concerning feedstuffs enacted after the European mad cow crisis. Focal plane array near‐infrared (NIR) imaging spectroscopy, which collects thousands of spatially resolved spectra in a massively parallel fashion, has been suggested as a more efficient alternative to the current methods, which are tedious and require significant expert human analysis. Chemometric classification strategies have been applied to automate the method and reduce the need for constant expert analysis of the data. In this work the performance of a new method for multivariate classification, support vector machines (SVM), was compared with that of two classical chemometric methods, partial least squares (PLS) and artificial neural networks (ANN), in classifying feed particles as either MBM or vegetal using the spectra from NIR images. While all three methods were able to effectively model the data, SVM was found to perform substantially better than PLS and ANN, exhibiting a much lower rate of false positive detection. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

As Germany Comes to Grip with its Own Mad-Cow Crisis, Where was the E.U.?

The first real casualty of Germany's burgeoning Mad-Cow crisis must be the great pride Germany takes in its reputably efficient, high quality and “green” agriculture industry. The second and third casualties were the Federal Ministers of Agriculture and Public Health, both of whom recently handed over their resignations to Chancellor Schroeder under sharp criticism that they ignored the potential for a German Mad-Cow crisis, which broke when the first German cases were registered in late November, 2000. Hundreds of beef cattle will meet a similar, premature end. We must wait to learn whether German consumers will become casualties of the crisis.

Behavior Towards Risk and Discount Rates: An Empirical Study Using the CJD Crisis as an Experiment

This paper investigates the effect of a change in risk on households' behavior, focusing on heterogenous and endogenous discount rates. The paper circumvents traditional problems of selectivity biases when assessing the effect of risk on behavior by using the French Mad Cow crisis as a natural experiment. It exploits the suddenness of the crisis and uses a panel data set following consumers before and after the crisis. The paper shows that the response to a change in risk is a non linear function of the level of the risk. The behaviors of the consumers when learning about the risks of CJD are partly explained by heterogenous and endogenous discount rates. Both individuals who are the most and the less exposed to the risk continue to engage in risky consumption when they learn about the risk. High risk consumers displays fatalistic behaviors and self-select themselves even more into the risk. A model based on endogenous discount rates is calibrated to back out the perceived risk by the households at the date of the crisis.

The Mad Cow Crisis: Health and the Public Good

The Mad Cow Crisis: Health and the Public Good

The Mad cow crisis: health and the public good

The announcement that BOSER might cause a fatal human disease Creutzfeldt- Jacob disease CJD triggered enormous media attention, public alarm and government wrangling that threatened the future of European integration.; As Scott Ratzan argues: is my belief that the [BOSER crisis] represents a quintessential case that will go down in history as the Exxon Valdez Union Carbide's Bhopal accident, and other such cases of interdisciplinary study.; This book offers lessons learned from the crisis, with contributions from experts with different viewpoints - veterinarians, Eurocrats, public relations experts, politicians, policy- makers, journalists and representatives of the beef industry.; It also offers a compilation of the key reports from governmental bodies. as a case-study in policy-making, scientific/health discovery and dissemination of information, as well as looking at the issues from the perspective of psychology and media studies.