And the United States for years allowed a host of questionable food safety practices that could allow it to spread here, critics say. He said government regulations designed to prevent the spread of the disease are not being followed. Bovine products are used for food, but also for pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, lubricants and other products. The beef industry is the largest sector of the US agricultural economy and a pillar of American trade. Any hint that mad cow had surfaced here could send the industry into a tailspin.
Big money is at stake.
And so are human lives. In January, an advisory committee to the US Food and Drug Administration responded to the outbreak in Europe and recommended banning blood donations from people who had lived 10 years or more in France, Ireland or Portugal. People who lived in Britain for six months or more from 1980 to 1996 are already banned from giving blood. No one knows if the human version of mad cow disease could be spread by transfusions, but animal studies suggest it might. The disease can strike decades after exposure, and the government and non-profit blood centers are taking no chances.