Mad cow crisis: a ghost epidemic?

Mad cow crisis has heavily hit economy and politics. Such a result seems ou t of proportion with the real impact of the disease, because the prion kill ed very few people. According to many experts, consumers gave way to panic because they took a "ghost epidemic" seriously. This article sets forth a q ualitative study of the media coverage of this crisis and a statistical ana lysis of two French surveys realised in 1997. This investigation leads us t o believe that consumers did not react so irrationally. Based on available information, their risk perceptions were rather sensible. Their reactions w ere depending on whether they trust or mistrust the authorities and the dis tributors. They also depended on their eating habits.