<P> The first confirmed instance in which an animal fell ill with the disease occurred in 1986 in the United Kingdom , and lab tests the following year indicated the presence of BSE ; by November 1987 , the British Ministry of Agriculture accepted it had a new disease on its hands . Subsequently , 177 people ( as of June 2014 ) contracted and died of a disease with similar neurological symptoms subsequently called ( new ) variant Creutzfeldt -- Jakob disease ( vCJD ) . This is a separate disease from ' classical ' Creutzfeldt -- Jakob disease , which is not related to BSE and has been known about since the early 1900s . Three cases of vCJD occurred in people who had lived in or visited the UK -- one each in the Republic of Ireland , Canada , and the United States of America . Also , some concern existed about those who work with ( and therefore inhale ) cattle meat and bone meal , such as horticulturists , who use it as fertilizer . Up - to - date statistics on all types of CJD are published by the National Creutzfeldt -- Jakob Disease Surveillance Unit in Edinburgh , Scotland . </P>
<P> The first confirmed instance in which an animal fell ill with the disease occurred in 1986 in the United Kingdom , and lab tests the following year indicated the presence of BSE ; by November 1987 , the British Ministry of Agriculture accepted it had a new disease on its hands . Subsequently , 177 people ( as of June 2014 ) contracted and died of a disease with similar neurological symptoms subsequently called ( new ) variant Creutzfeldt -- Jakob disease ( vCJD ) . This is a separate disease from ' classical ' Creutzfeldt -- Jakob disease , which is not related to BSE and has been known about since the early 1900s . Three cases of vCJD occurred in people who had lived in or visited the UK -- one each in the Republic of Ireland , Canada , and the United States of America . Also , some concern existed about those who work with ( and therefore inhale ) cattle meat and bone meal , such as horticulturists , who use it as fertilizer . Up - to - date statistics on all types of CJD are published by the National Creutzfeldt -- Jakob Disease Surveillance Unit in Edinburgh , Scotland . </P>
when was bse first observed in great britain
when was bse first observed in great britain
1986
1986