Introduction

This annotated literature review is an initial stage of a larger research program entitled PrioNET: Prion Disease Risk Management, being conducted by Daniel Krewski, Louise Lemyre, Robert Clarke, Carol Amaratunga, William Leiss and others. The overarching objective of that core project is the development of an integrated risk management framework for BSE (Bovine Spongiform Encephalitis) in Canada. Application of that framework requires filling a number of information gaps, and this review contributes to doing so. This is a review of the English-language international literature, excluding Canada, about the psychosocial effects of BSE. It comprises social science literature since 1996 addressing the impacts of BSE (also known as "Mad Cow disease") on farm families and rural communities, with special emphasis on the United Kingdom, Europe and Japan. This written report is accompanied by an electronic searchable database in Reference Manager. An additional companion document provides a detailed review of the comparable Canadian literature.

For background information regarding BSE and its links with Creuzfeldt-Jakob disease, refer to the Public Health Agency of Canada (www.phac-aspc.gc.ca) and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (www.inspection.gc.ca) as starting points.

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