Tainted Beef, By the Numbers

by PhotoSpin PhotoSpin

10,410

Pounds of raw beef recalled on December 23, 2003



125 million

Pounds of beef the U.S. has imported from countries known
to have cattle infected with mad cow disease, or bovine
spongiform encephalopathy (BSE)



450

Calves killed so far because of ties to BSE-infected cow



3

Hours to liquefy a BSE-contaminated cow in liquid lye



6

Hours to destroy mad cow prions in liquid lye



0

Epidemiology papers that show a causal link between BSE
and the human form, variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD)



153

Total number of cases of vCJD worldwide



93

Percent of those cases reported in the U.K.



40

Estimated maximum incubation period of vCJD, in years



14

Median time, in months, from onset of symptoms to death



0

Cures or treatments for vCJD

Sources: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CJD Foundation, Harvard Center for Risk Analysis, U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, U.S. General Accounting Office,
Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, World Health Organization