U.S. Mad Cow Cases Are Mysterious Strain

[MetaTrope]

http://www.forbes.com/business/feeds/ap/2006/06/11/ap2807633.html

Two cases of mad cow disease in Texas and Alabama seem to have resulted from a mysterious strain that could appear spontaneously in cattle, researchers say.

Government officials are trying to play down differences between the two U.S. cases and the mad cow epidemic that has led to the slaughter of thousands of cattle in Britain since the 1980s.

It is precisely these differences that are complicating efforts to understand the brain-wasting disorder, known medically as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE for short.

"It's most important right now, till the science tells us otherwise, that we treat this as BSE regardless," the Agriculture Department's chief veterinarian, John Clifford, said in an interview.

More Bush Administration 17th century science..."spontaneous generation" is back! No chance at all of a BSE strain moving through American cattle, oh no indeed. This is God's work.

[IthinkThereforeIAM]

1. But Forbes printed it...

...so it must be the truth. :sarcasm:

[existentialist]

3. Bush and Forbes

Any body besides me find them quite a bit alike? Mediocre intellects born into privilege and thinking they earned it, and wallowing in morally questionable behavior while claiming to serve God?

Any body else think this is a fair comparison?

[flvegan]

6. It's an AP piece, not a Forbes piece.

Opinion of the AP aside, I don't think that Forbes is relevant here.

[hedgehog]

2. Given the nature of BSE, it could develop spontaneously

My understanding is that it is a result of proteins folding into the wrong shape. That being the case, if one protein molecule gets assembled inside out, so to speak, it could then serve as a pattern for adjoining molecules to refold into that non-functional shape.

[Warpy]

7. Yes, according to the prion theory, but the jury's still out

on that one. They haven't proven that it isn't a virus or that it is a prion.

However, whatever it is probably enters the food chain through droppings in the soil. There's an epidemic of wasting disase remarkably like mad cow in deer and elk herds out west.

It's just one of those risks people are going to have to accept if they eat any sort of meat. It is still an extremely rare illness, horrible but rare. The statistics are with the meat eaters, although I think I might forego eating sweetbreads for the foreseeable future if I ate meat.

The best we can do is reducing the risk as much as possible, and that means keeping animal byproducts out of feed products for the critters that end up on our dinner tables, plus culling downer animals and keeping them out of the food chain.

I sincerely hope the prion theory is false, although it seems the most likely one. The only thing that will destry prions is thermal depolymerization. You can burn them to ashes and they are still stable, and cooking, bleaching, or autoclaving has no effect.

[CAcyclist]

37. If it did that , it would be much more likely to develop in an old

animal, not a young one. And even dairy cows are usually slaughtered by the time they reach eight years old, so I doubt these animals were very old. And if spontaneous generation were a known phenomenon, then there should be some consistent level of this in other countries - it wouldn't just be that in the US, spontaneous generation of BSE occurs and no where else. Kind of like how in other countries that assassinate their presidents, it's always the opposition but in our country it's always a lone madman.

[flvegan]

4. And yet, they still won't test each one.

From the article:
"Mad cow disease is not transmitted from cow to cow like a cold or the flu. It is believed to spread through feed, when cows eat the contaminated tissue of other cattle. That happens when crushed cattle remains are added to feed as a protein source. This once-common practice ended in the United States in 1997."

Anyone that believes that cows aren't fed protein that may well contain rendered cow parts is in need of some enlightenment.

I think that if one eats beef, one should be completely outraged and DEMAND that the USDA and APHIS insist on the mandatory testing of every single animal.

Oh, wait...sorry, I forgot...that would make it cost more. Probably not worth it to big Ag.

[Doremus]

11. Some companies have asked to be allowed to test every animal.

There would be a good-sized market for 'guaranteed mad cow free' beef and they could command higher prices.

The USDA forbids it.

[Julius Civitatus]

30. The USDA does what the lobbying groups tell them to do

That's what the USDA has become under Bush: they serve their lobbyists at the expense of the public or the general public's health.

Another example for the history books.

------------

[donsu]

34. yes and this point alone tells us that mad cow IS a problem in US

if it wasn't a problem the bushmilhousegang would allow companies to test on their own.

[LeftyMom]

14. Yeah. US cows eat cow.

It just gets run through chickens and pigs first. Of course that doesn't prevent the spread of prion disease at all.

"Dr. Diane Farsetta, senior researcher for the Center for Media and Democracy, noted, "The Bush administration refers to the current U.S. cattle feed regulations as a 'firewall,' but they are more like pouring gasoline on the fire. A real firewall feed ban exists in Japan, Britain and the rest of the European Union. However, the feed regulations adopted by the United States in 1997 allow hundreds of millions of pounds a year of rendered slaughterhouse waste to be fed to cattle in the form of cattle blood and fat, and blood, fat and meat and bone meal from pigs and chickens. Two billion pounds of chicken litter, containing meat and bone meal, is swept up from poultry barns and fed to cattle each year in the United States. These dangerous feeding practices must be banned, as they have been in Britain, Japan and other countries."

http://www.commondreams.org/news2005/0613-27.htm

[warrens]

28. What's really interesting is that last fall, FDA commissioner...

Lester Crawford announced a new feed ban proposal that would get rid of poultry litter and blood and bonemeal in cattle feed and supplements, as Canada has proposed. Three days later, he "resigned" and they put out a new feed ban that was even more lax than the 1997 one.

I'm not saying Tyson had him fired. I'm not saying they didn't.

[truthisfreedom]

5. God's hand always meddles with America in bushco's interpretation of

events.

[daleo]

8. There are known to be spontaneous cases

About 1 person in a million will develop CJD spontaneously, for example. But the phrase "mysterious strain" is stupid. If it is spontaneous it isn't a strain, its a one off event.

The article seems to jump between spontaneous and atypical, though. The mixed language makes one suspicious of mad bull disease.

"These cows appear to have had an "atypical" strain that scientists are only now starting to identify. Such cases have been described in about a dozen cows in France, Italy and other European countries, as well as in Japan.
...
Laboratory studies on mice in France showed that both the classic and atypical strains could be spread from one animal to another. But scientists theorize the atypical strain might have infected cattle through an unusual way."

[hedgehog]

9. I'd be curious how they can tell one strain from another

It may be so technical that it is over my head, but I would imagine that one prion looks like another, just as one water molecule resembles another.

[daleo]

10. Good question.

They are prions, so it can't be anything to do with DNA. Maybe there is some other minor chemical difference in the proteins.

[Nihil]

15. Clue:

If it's wearing a crucifix, it's spontaneous. If not, it evolved and
is probably present in a high proportion of US beef ...

[et in Arcadia ego]

17. They're identified

By the Amyloid plaques they create in the brain. Different strains have different amyloid signatures. Kuru, for example, looks almost identical to BSE, while the 'naturally developed' CJD looks very different.

[kath]

19. Do you have a gross pathology photo of the brain in prion diseases, such

as BSE, Kuru, Jacob-Creutzfeldt's? It's been nearly 13 years since I saw such a pic (aka "Swiss-cheese brain", but I can't get it out of my mind, and it's a large part of why I haven't eaten any ground beef since the first US case of BSE at Christmas-time 2003 (or was it 2004?).

[et in Arcadia ego]

20. yeah..

You're looking at it.

[et in Arcadia ego]

21. one more for the road

Advanced cheesehead:

[kath]

49. I didn't make myself very clear when I asked my question - CAcyclist

gets to the nub of it in the post below - my memory may be faulty on this, but IIRC eventually the brain gets to the point where the holes are visible on *gross* section (ie, visible to the naked eye), not just on *microscopic* sections. Do you have such a pic?

(I may be confusing Kuru, etc with some really disgusting parasitic infection that causes big holes in the brain, but I *thought* that the prion diseases did this (they used to be called "slow virus" diseases before prions were discovered). Whatever it was, it was MUCHO disgusting to see a brain so chewed up like that.)

[CAcyclist]

39. Gross pathology

Do you have a picture of the way the BSE- infected brain looks on the cutting floor?

[kestrel91316]

12. I REALLY REALLY REALLY hope these cows did NOT have the

strain they identified in Italy a couple of years ago: bovine amyloidotic spongiform encephalopathy (BASE). It bears a tremendous resemblance to human Alzheimer's with the development of amyloid deposits in the brain cells, as opposed to the development of "swiss cheese" seen in "normal" BSE.

Large numbers of supposed Alzheimer's victims may in fact have BSE, and perhaps BASE.

I think they know something they are NOT willing to tell us, about our beef in the US and its link to a certain very common brain disease....................

[flvegan]

18. Your second paragraph

has been suggested by many, ignored by most. Wonder why...

[LeftyMom]

13. And remember kids, hardly any cows in the US get tested!

But that's okay, because diseases we don't look for won't keep you from eating cows and letting your silly desire to keep your brain intact cut into corporate profits!

Now who wants a burger? :9

[ebdarcy]

16. I'm so glad I gave up beef.

I gave it up last year after that second report of mad cow. Everyone I know thinks I'm nuts, but I don't care. I don't believe anything this administration says. While I know the odds of contracting the disease are supposedly rare, I can't shake the feeling that this administration may be covering up a mad cow epidemic.

I thought it would be hard to give up beef, but I don't miss it.

[Rainscents]

22. I eat certified organic beef

Grass feed and that's it!

[depakid]

23. There WILL be an epidemic of BSE

down the line- and people who've been eating beef and hamburger are going to be the ones who'll end up getting it. It's hard to know what the acual numbers will be- but my uspicion is that with what 80,000 or so registered members here- some DU'ers will die from this.

Personally, I gave up beef over 20 years ago, largely because cattle are so environmentally destructive. That turned out to be a wise decision-

I'd urge others to seriously consider it.

[Lorien]

25. Personally, I think eating beef is nuts-especially if you're a Progressive

(zipping up flame suit, because beef is among the most beloved American foods). I quit eating it after that Oprah Mad Cow program 10 years ago. Plus, my doctor advises her patients to cut beef out of their diet because she fears that the antibiotics pumped into beef cattle will eventually lower the effectiveness of antibiotics in the people who consume beef every week. And then there's all of these issues: http://www.mcspotlight.org/media/reports/beyond.html

Nope, I don't miss it either-and I also thought it would be a tough thing to give up!

[hedgehog]

41. I've replaced ground beef with ground buffalo

It's just as good in hamburgers and meat loaf. I'd like to be able to try a bufalo steak sometime.

[raccoon]

27. I've drastically cut down on my beef intake.

What's ground turkey taste like when you use it as ground beef? I'm thinking of trying it but would like to hear other's experiences.

[Julius Civitatus]

32. I gave up beef in 2001

Barely had beef at all in 5 years. Ever since I heard of potential BSE in the USA, I decided it was time to say goodbye to beef.

The fact that the Bush administration lowered the standards for testing BSE in the beef industry, only reinforced my decision.

[Occulus]

36. mmmmm, turkeyburgers!

Love 'em. It's very good.

[CAcyclist]

40. Google turkey recipes

There's some recipes to make turkey taste less dry and bland. But some really processed beef patties don't have much taste either. Turkey burgers are better thab tofu burgers at least. If you add lots of extras - pickles, tomatoes and pepperconis, you won't hardly taste the difference.

[warrens]

31. The danger is brains and other icky parts

Nearly all confirmed cases of vCJD occurred in the British Midlands, where eating brain with scrambled eggs and other icky things is common. Frankly, the thing to worry about with meat is listeria, which kills thousands every year, and the new, improved, drug-resistant salmonella, which kills hundreds.

The most dangerous product out there is processed cold cuts. Turkey, ham, beef, it doesn't matter.

BSE is a very scary disease, but so far there are only about 165 deaths attributed to it, nearly all in the Midlands or among people who lived there for a while.

Just say no to sauteed brains, intestines, kidney, tongue, liver etc.

[shanti]

24. that's a relief

:eyes: :sarcasm:

[xchrom]

26. i have a personal interest in this story -- i have a dear cousin

now dead -- as a result of something that got into her brain that resembles bse -- but we are told is not bse.

however they have not yet thoroughly tested the brain.

she got sick in central illinois and died in des moines where they have more advanced brain center apparently.

we've been very concerned -- two of her sisters were her intimate caretakers -- were they exposed?

she died very quickly -- from the time she was found at home in a semi-coma -- to death was probably only 4 months.

we want to know what the fuck killed her.

[lonestarnot]

33. Holy damn. I think I'll just stop eating period.

[Rainscents]

38. I'd heard Dr. talked about this on Coast to Coast radio and he

said, with BSE/Mad Cow Disease, once you been diagnose to death is within 6 months! This is very scary!!!

[xchrom]

42. trust me when i tell you this was the scariest

thing you've ever seen.

and i wasn't even there personally.

but i could hear her in the background when i talked to her sisters on the phone.

it was ugly -- in a word.

[Julius Civitatus]

29. It doesn't fly. It doesn't make sense at all

Mad Cow, generally speaking, seems to be "spontaneous" in the way it manifests but it actually takes years, sometimes decades to develop. Their explanation makes as much sense as claiming that the sun disappears at night, and then it suddenly appears, "spontaneously," in the mornings.

BULLSHIT!

I do not buy this argument by the Bush administration. I think it's bullshit made to muddy up the waters and make people think it's not preventable. Even more, this is disinfo aimed to make people think there's nothing they could have done, because is a "new, stronger, weirder strain." Not true.

One thing is clear: the fact that the BUSH ADMINISTRATION LOWERED THE TESTING STANDARDS FOR BSE may have contributed to the spread of this prion-based disease. They've known about this threat since the UK scare of 1996. Still, the Bush administration lowered the testing standards for BSE as a kickback to the beef industry. This should be another example for the textbooks of how the Bush administration has messed up things. All they do is to serve their wealthy contributing lobbyists, at the expense of the general public or their health.

[warrens]

44. The dangerous thing here is that we have no idea how it is spread

Right now, we only test a few of the sickest cattle, less than 1 percent. That may or may not be effective against BSE, because we know a lot about that disease. This one, we know nothing.

Right now, Chronic Wasting Disease is spreading from elk to mule deer to white tail deer and who knows what else. In other words, a nearly identical disease is spreading...and I doubt the mule deer had an elk for lunch. So how did it spread?

I just spoke to a BSE expert in France a few minutes ago. He says, basically, that testing should be ramped up fast to guard against this "strain" amplifying, because it may be years before we know how this is being transmitted.

I saw an article a while back that in CWD, they are thinking urine might be the transmitter. If this is true, it's very scary. If the prions can be transmitted in infective quantities by urine, this form of BSE might too. And if so, it means that millions of grazing cattle could be infected. And we might eat them before they are tested.

This is what happened in England. They dismissed it as a minor problem, said it would never affect humans...stalled and obfuscated until suddenly 160 people were dead and they had to kill off half their national herd of cattle, at a cost of billions of dollars.

[Julius Civitatus]

45. The problem is that the Bush admin. doesn't consider it a problem

Like Katrina, they wouldn't move their asses until it was too damn late. Same for global warming. Right now the Bushies are too cozy taking direction from lobbyists, and throwing kickbacks to the beef industry... until it's too late. And like this, any federal agency right now basically serves the interests of whatever lobby can put some cash on their pockets. The system is horribly corrupted and slanted to favor the industry (any industry) at the expense of the the health of citizens.

What's a few hundred thousand people getting infected in the future, if we can make a buck off of it right now. Don't worry about it! It all in the future...

:sarcasm:

[MetaTrope]

48. All part of Nazi Grandad Prescott Bush's Eugenics Plan for America

no doubt.

[Celebration]

35. k & r

needs one more vote

[sam sarrha]

43. this is just disinformation..it's all PRION DISEASE ..LINK>

http://www.maddeer.org

http://www.organicconsumers.org/index.htm

Prion disease was discovered in about 1952.. a flock of sheep came down with a wasting disease.. nothing could kill the pathigen..NOTHING !!! so they burned the sheep at 1800* and the ashes contaminated healthy sheep..!!

Prions can jump inter-species in about 4 generations.

a private story i heard about on NPR said a study in care homes for people with Alzheimer's patients showed that 12% to 16% of the patients were misdiagnosed,, and had a prion wasting disease.

google: 'red zone' it is also on Maddeer.org.. the beef industry bought up all the websites related to madcow.com

lots of people all over the nation are dying of prion disease..

[Megahurtz]

46. Great.

The Biowarfare techs are at it again.:tinfoilhat:

[Hekate]

47. Same "scientists" that say global warming is in doubt?

God, how I wish I could persuade my grown kids to give up beef.

Hekate