ABSTRACT
In March 1996, the British government announced the possibility of a link between a serious cattle disease, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), and a rare and fatal human neurodegenerative disease, Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (CJD). The announcement was prompted by the discovery of 10 atypical cases of the disease, which usually afflicts people over 65, in patients under the age of 42. The government's announcement provided scant details of the relevant scientific data but noted that they were ‘cause for great concern’ (O'Brien, 1996). The great concern did indeed quickly materialize in the form of an avalanche of press coverage, much of it highly dramatized and speculative. Following on the heels of a decade of ministerial denials, reassurances and belittling of this potential hazard, the sudden about-face produced an instant crisis and a collapse of public confidence in the safety managers of the US$3-billion British beef industry, symbolized by the 21 March, 1996, headline in the Daily Express: ‘Can We Still Trust Them?’ (O'Brien, 1996).
