Apocalypse Cow: Policy-Making in Conditions of Uncertainty -- Lessons from the BSE Epidemic in the United Kingdom

Abstract

Emerging epidemics challenge governments to make effective policy decisions in conditions of extreme uncertainty. The customary assignment of disease management to the scientific realm proved ineffective in the recent emergence of "mad cow disease" in Britain. This contemporary plague provides a means of examining the efficacy of traditional responses to epidemic management in Western society and of identifying new paradigms for policy makers required to make decisions based on incomplete information.