There have been four cases of vCJD reported in the United States. Convention assigns the cases to the country of initial onset of symptoms regardless of where the exposure occurred. There is strong evidence that two of the cases were exposed to BSE in the United Kingdom and the third case was exposed while living in Saudi Arabia.
The United States government has put in place a number of measures to prevent Mad Cow Disease (BSE) from entering this country, safeguards to prevent the spread of the disease in cattle, and measures to prevent humans from becoming infected through the ingestion of contaminated beef and food products. Some of the measures include
- Prohibiting the importation of live cattle and certain cattle products from countries where BSE is known to exist.
- Prohibiting all imports of rendered animal protein products from BSE-restricted countries, regardless of species, because of concerns of cross contamination.
