Timeline: The rise and rise of BSE

New Scientist traces the BSE crisis from the mid-1980's to the present

22 Dec 1984: The first confirmed victim of BSE. Cow number 133 on the Stent farm in Sussex develops head tremors and a loss of coordination

11 Feb 1985: Cow 133 dies. Other cows show similar symptoms the next year

19 Sep 1985: Government pathologist finds Cow 133 died from spongiform encephalopathy (SE)

Nov/Dec 1986: Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) recognised as new cattle disease. Information placed "under embargo"

5 June 1987: Chief Veterinary Officer tells Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) of the new disease

5-6 Oct 1987: BSE found to be a prion disease. Described weeks later in The Veterinary Record

May 1988: Government forms Southwood working party to look into BSE

21 June 1988: BSE becomes notifiable disease

18 July 1988: Ruminant protein banned from sheep and cattle feed

9 Feb 1989: Southwood report says BSE is unlikely to pose threat to humans. Recommends setting up expert committee to advise on SE research

13 Nov 1989: Use of specified bovine offal (SBO) banned in human food

3 Feb 1990: BSE shown to be transferable from cow to cow by injection, and to mice orally

10 May 1990: Siamese cat called Max reported to have BSE-like disease. Species barrier appears to have been broken naturally

16 May 1990: Chief Medical Officer (CMO) says beef is safe to eat

4 May 1992: Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee (SEAC) says existing safeguards should protect human health

1992/1993: BSE peaks as 0.3 per cent of national herd affected. BSE starts to decline in 1993

11 March 1993: CMO again says beef is safe

June 1994: BSE shown to be orally transferable from cow to cow

May 1995: First death from variant CJD

Nov 1995: MAFF informs SEAC that some abattoirs are ignoring SBO ban. Infected tissue could still be entering human food chain

Dec 1995: MAFF bans "mechanically recovered meat" (MRM, dislodged from spinal columns of cattle) from addition to human food

20 March 1996: SEAC announces probable link between BSE and vCJD

25 March 1996: EU bans British beef exports

3 April 1996: Cattle 30+ months banned from food chain

1 Aug 1996: MAFF says BSE may be passed from a cow to its calf

16 Aug 1996: Selective cull of cattle most at risk from BSE announced

16 Sep 1997: Mice studies reveal evidence for link between BSE and vCJD

22 Dec 1997: BSE Inquiry set up

26 Oct 2000: BSE Inquiry report published

28 Oct 2000: European Union approves a massive testing programme for BSE - up to six million cattle a year, starting in 2001

Nov 2000: First Spanish and German cases of BSE discovered

9 Feb 2000 Two Thais reported to have vCJD, the first cases outside Europe

June 2001: The three biggest international agencies for health and agriculture - the World Health Organisation, Food and Agriculture Organisations and World Animal Health Organisation - want all countries to assess their risk of BSE

July 2001: Mouse cells "cured" of scrapie - antibodies raise hope of cure

10 Sep 2001: Mad cow disease reaches Japan - the first native-born case reported outside Europe

Sep 2001: Leading UK epidemiologist says France on course to report more cases of BSE in 2002 than the UK

Sep/Oct 2001: UK-based trial of a drug to treat vCJD - quinacrine - set to start within weeks

Oct 2001: UK BSE experiments end in farce - Scientists conducting a five year study to find whether BSE has infiltrated UK sheep were testing cattle samples all along

Nov 2001: A bug in the soil might trigger both BSE and multiple sclerosis, say a team of immunologists in London

Jan 2002: Researchers may be on the brink of creating prion-free cattle by removing the prion gene from cow cells and cloning the cells to create embryos

Jan 2002: Fears over BSE in chicken as bovine protein is found in breast fillets produced in Holland

Aug 2002: First confirmed case of vCJD in North America

Oct 2002: Hopes revived for CJD drug as new study backs controversial treatment

Nov 2002: Mouse study suggests the eating of infected meat might cause classical CJD in people, as well as variant CJD

Dec 2002: A UK court rules that two dying teenagers can be the first to be injected with an experimental treatment

Jan 2003: Untested drug to be injected into the brain of a British teenager in the hope of slowing the fatal disease

Feb 2003: Predicted deaths from vCJD slashed - A new analysis reduces the extent of the worst-case epidemic to 7000, following two years of falling figures

May 2003: The condition of a UK teenager appears to have stabilised and possibly even improved following injections of a controversial vCJD drug

21 May 2003: The first cow to be found with the deadly disease in Canada for a decade has been discovered

23 May 2003: Mad cow quarantine in Canada extended to nine herds as investigators scramble to find the cause of a case of BSE - and whether any other animals are infected

To 05 May 2003, 135 definite or probable cases of vCJD in Britain