this aint the first case of mad cow disease in the U.S., ive seen plenty of hushed up reports over the last decade.
http://www.prwatch.org/books/madcow.html
some reports are saying that mad cow in humans has been widely misdiagnosed as alzhiemers. woah.. another reason to keep coroners gagged.
.. that aside, abc news reported:
"Bovine spongiform encephalopathy, popularly known as mad cow disease, is caused by a misshapen protein a prion that essentially eats holes in a cow's brain. Cattle get sick by eating feed that contains tissue from the brain and spine of infected animals.
The United States has banned such feed since 1997."
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Living/ap20031225_59.html
bullcrap.. at the same time the us ag dept was saying 'rendered feed' (ground leftover cattle parts) was not used to feed cows it was part of the curriculim of the american farmers industry courses.
i don't think it's true that humans can only get the disease (variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD)), through eating the brain or spinal of the animal.. a bse tainted cow can transfer the disease through any part of the cow. that's what ive read anyway.
i still don't understand how anyone can think its ok to feed a vegetarian cannibalized meat for generations without major problems.
found this interesting too:
http://www.madcowboy.com/01_FactsMC.000.html#History
SPECIAL NEW MAD COW FACTOIDS: 09/13/02
"In 1907, Dr. Alzheimer published a treatise about a disease that would one day carry his name. He had two young colleagues who worked with him, Dr. Creutzfeldt and Dr. Jakob, and they too identified a similiar brain-wasting disease that now has Europe in a panic. The brains of cows turn into a sponge-like mass and their behavior is called "mad." The human variant of Mad Cow Disease has been named Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease, or CJD. The protein causing CJD has no DNA, and has been described as more like a crystal than cellular material. In labs, 1000 degree Fahrenheit heat does not destroy this protein particle. Some scientists say that once infected, the incubation period can last anywhere from one month to thirty years. As the human brain turns into a sponge, this spongioform encephalitic condition physically debilitates those so infected."
"Compelling scientific evidence suggests so-called prion disease can and has infected humans... at present, there is no reliable antemortem diagnosis, specific treatment, or vaccine to prevent the disease. The agent thought to be responsible for this unusual class of disease is a rogue protein (called a prion) that, unlike all other agents known to cause infectious disease, contains neither DNA nor RNA. The "bad" prion forms holes or a spongy appearance in the brain in all disease variants, hence the generic designation of spongiform encephalopathy." (Quintessence International, 1998 May, 29:5)
"A 24-year-old vegetarian has been diagnosed with Cruetzfeld-Jacob disease. Sceintists fear that milk and cheese may be the source of infection." (Michael Hornsby, London Times, August 23, 1997)
"The destruction of milk from suspected cows was recommended in England to insure the public's safety... Experiments also indicate that temperatures reached during pasteurization of milk and household cooking does not kill the agent. In the United Kingdom on December 1, 1988 the government announced a ban on the sale of milk from infected cattle..." (Virgil Hulse, M.D., Mad Cows and Milkgate)
"Transmission of prions from infected cattle to humans by oral intake seems no only possible but also very probable." (Annals of Italian Medicine, 1998 Oct, 13:4 )
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