1996

November
Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy is recognized as a new disease in cattle.

1998

June
The U.K. government makes BSE a notifiable disease. Suspected cases must be investigated and reported.
July
The U.K. bans the feeding of ruminant-derived meat and bone meal (MBM) protein to ruminants.
August
The U.K. introduces a compulsory slaughter and compensation scheme for detected cases.

1989

July
The European Union bans the exportation of U.K. cattle born before the July 1988 feed ban.
November
First case of BSE outside the United Kingdom is detected in a native herd in Ireland.
November
The U.K. government bans the use for human food of certain high-risk specified bovine offals (SBO).

1990

April
Ban imposed on exporting to the European Union certain tissues, including BSO, lymph nodes, pituitaries, and serum.
May
The United Kingdom establishes surveillance unit for Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) following concern about possible spread to humans.
June
The European Union bans export of live U.K. cattle older than 6 months.
September
The United Kingdom bans use of SBOs from feedstuffs for all mammals and birds, including pets.

1993

An EU-funded surveillance system for CJD is introduced in 10 countries in Europe and in Australia and Canada.

1994

June
The feeding of mammalian protein to ruminants is banned throughout the European Union.

1995

July
The European Union places restrictions on the importation of beef from U.K. cattle.
December
The United Kingdom bans the use of mechanically recovered meat in human food.

1996

March
A new human transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) is identified -- Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) -- and distiguished from classical CJD.
March
The United Kingdom bans the use of mammalian MBM in feed for all farm animals.
April
The United Kingdom introduces slaughter scheme to keep cattle older than 30 months out of food and feed chains.
June
The United Kingdom introduces a feed recall scheme aimed at collecting and destroying all remaining MBM.
July
Cattle passports are made mandatory for all cattle born beginning July 1, 1996.

1998

January
The United Kingdom prohibits specified risk materials (SRM) in feed cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and medical products.

2000

July
The European Union implements an SRM ban. CJD surveillance is extended to cover eight more countries.

2001

January
The European Union introduces compulsory testing of cattle and bans the use of MBM in feed for all farm animals.
Sept. 10
BSE is reported in Japan -- the first native-born case reported outside Europe.
December
CJD surveillance expands to include countries in Central and Eastern Europe and China.

2002

August
The first confirmed case of vCJD in North America is reported in a man in Saskatchewan, Canada.

2003

May 21
The first cow to be found with BSE in Canada for a decade is discovered. Several countries ban beef from Canada.
Dec. 23
The first BSE case in the United States is announced when a Holstein on a Washington state farm tests positive for the disease. Several countries impose bans on U.S. beef. The cow in question is later found to have been born in Canada.
Dec. 30
The U.S. Department of Agriculture imposes new restrictions to prevent BSE. They include a ban the use of "downer" cattle and small intestines, head and spinal tissue from older cattle.

2005

Jan. 2
Canada confirms the nation's second case of mad cow disease, occuring in an older dairy cow from Alberta.

June 24
Tests confirm mad cow disease in a U.S. cow previously cleared of having the brain wasting illness. It is the second case of mad cow disease in the United States.