The biggest and most recent public health crisis that most people tend to think about was the coronavirus pandemic, however, in the UK there was another serious public health crisis within living memory with potentially much more severe consequences.
Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy or BSE, commonly known as mad cow disease appeared on farms in the early and mid-1980s, and although originally believed to have been restricted only to cattle it became apparent by the mid-1990s that this was not the case and BSE had in fact jumped to other species, including humans.
A wave of deaths from the human form – vCJD followed and preventing this from happening again became the most important thing to do.
BSE is not caused by a virus or a bacteria, instead it is caused by prions which are nigh on impossible to destroy. They are not only resistant to heat and chemicals that would normally kill other organisms, but also to lethal doses of radiation. This means that any of these deadly prions that are still around can pose a risk to both human and animal health.
Of course, the places that they are most likely to be found is on farmland, where the disease originated from. Prions can remain in the soil for years, and this is why any farmland that is known to be contaminated should be cleaned up by a professional like this soil remediation company https://soilfix.co.uk/services/soil-remediation/
Although the strict regulations around both cattle feed and the parts of the animals that can enter the food chain have tightened up to prevent this from happening again, it is also essential to make sure that all the possible problems are taken seriously and that the land is also cleaned up as thoroughly as possible.
