Wilesmith J W
Epidemiology Department, Central Veterinary Laboratory, New Haw, Addlestone, Surrey, U.K.
Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 1994 Mar 29;343(1306):357-61. doi: 10.1098/rstb.1994.0029.
Bovine spongiform encephalopathy was first recognized in Great Britain in 1986 and was the result of infection with a scrapie-like agent surviving in meat and bone meal used in feedstuffs. This effective exposure commenced in 1981-82 and was associated with a reduction in the use of hydrocarbon solvents in the manufacture of meat and bone meal. The epidemiological features are consistent with sheep scrapie as the original source, but the epidemic was amplified by the recycling of infected cattle tissue resulting in a marked increase in incidence from 1989. The food borne source was eliminated by legislation introduced in July 1988. The first effects of this became apparent during 1991 and these have become more obvious during 1993 with a reduction in the national incidence. Specific studies are still in progress to determine whether other means of transmission can occur, but none capable of maintaining the epidemic have been detected.
牛海绵状脑病于1986年在英国首次被发现，它是由一种类似羊瘙痒病的病原体感染所致，这种病原体存在于用作饲料的肉骨粉中。这种有效暴露始于1981 - 1982年，并且与肉骨粉生产中烃类溶剂使用量的减少有关。其流行病学特征与羊瘙痒病作为最初来源一致，但疫情因受感染牛组织的循环利用而扩大，导致自1989年起发病率显著上升。1988年7月出台的立法消除了食源性传播途径。这一举措的最初影响在1991年开始显现，在1993年随着全国发病率的下降变得更加明显。目前仍在进行具体研究以确定是否可能存在其他传播途径，但尚未检测到能够维持疫情的传播途径。
