The fear of mad cow disease, spread by tainted beef and beef byproducts, jumped this year from Britain across most of Europe. The threat of the disease has spurred boycotts and bans on beef imports across Europe. So far, the mad cow swirl that's forced the slaughter of tens of thousands of cattle and left more than 100 people dead in Europe appears to have left the United States largely untouched. No cases of the disease, formally known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, have yet been found in U.S. beef herds. No person in this country is known to have contracted the nasty human form of the disease.
Federal regulators say they are monitoring food supplies closely.
But inevitably, a growing international panic over a disease that leads to a slow but wretched death in humans is starting to touch U.S. businesses. No surprise, restaurant chains built on selling lots of beef are on the front lines. Right behind are companies that make animal feeds, drug companies that use beef products in vaccines, candy companies that rely on beef gelatins as key ingredients and even fertilizer companies that sell bone meal to gardeners. They may all be players battling the spread of mad cow disease. Wall Street and wary investors are starting to take notice.