Mad U.S. Cow ???

[Habu]

Sell your fast food stocks and buy a chicken producer. I predict chicken consumption is going to go way up.

[Maverick]

Originally posted by GScholz
It's only a matter of time really. BSI isn't really a disease, it's more like a syndrome; it's a protein, not a bacteria or virus. The protein is the result of human meddling in the animals' natural diet etc.

You have any documentation to back this up??

If it were not a contagous situation, why did Britian destroy so may cattle that may have had contact with an infected cow?

[AKS\/\/ulfe]

Mav,

Transmission of BSE

There is no evidence that BSE spreads horizontally, i.e., by contact between unrelated adult cattle or from cattle to other species. Some evidence suggests that maternal transmission may occur at an extremely low level. Results of British research show that there is approximately a 9-percent increase in the occurrence of BSE in offspring of BSE-affected dams as compared to calves born to dams where BSE was not detected. The study did not ascertain if this was the result of genetic factors or true transmission. The research did however point out that at this level if maternal transmission does occur it alone will not sustain the epidemic (Wilesmith et al. 1997).  

A recently published study found no evidence of disease transmission via embryos collected from cows with BSE. The embryos were collected and handled in accordance with international health standards (Wrethall et. al., 2001).


http://www.aphis.usda.gov/lpa/issues/bse/bse-overview.html
-SW

[Maverick]

Wulfe,

The question still remains. If it is non contageous, why destroy the herds? Second question, if it is not transmitable to other species, why the worry about contracting it from eating meat from a "mad cow"?

This just doesn't compute.

[AKS\/\/ulfe]

Well... contagious typically means it is capable of propogating through certain types of contact. Blood/open wounds/inhalation/mucus membranes.

I, apparently just like the biologists/doctors/etc, don't know HOW a cow acquires this protein. I guess, through reading that website, that it isn't a disease acquired through the first reasons I stated above.

For humans, and probably whatever else eats a dead cow with BSE - I'm not sure if anyone has studied its effects on other mammals/insects/reptiles. Since its a protein, it is something our body will use and not be destroyed either through stomach acid or our immune system. This would allow it to pass harmlessly into the creature's system that eats the BSE infected cow.

Beyond that, I don't proclaim to be anything beyond an amatuer interest in this disease(?).
-SW

[_Schadenfreude_]

Originally posted by Maverick
You have any documentation to back this up??

If it were not a contagous situation, why did Britian destroy so may cattle that may have had contact with an infected cow?

er that was foot and mouth, not mad cow......

[-dead-]

Originally posted by Maverick
You have any documentation to back this up??

If it were not a contagous situation, why did Britian destroy so may cattle that may have had contact with an infected cow?

It's caused by a prion. Simplified down - a prion is a protein, rather than a bacteria or virus. It can transmit an otherwise hereditary disease if eaten, injected, or directly implanted by surgery or what all. It a mutated version of a normal protein in the brain that doesn't work correctly and can cause disease.
So it is and isn't contagious.
The destruction of cattle that come in contact with infected cows is down to a few things:
1. They all get fed the same food, so they are all at risk of BSE.
2. Other vectors - such as eating vomit/faeces or what all can feasibly happen. Coupled with the next:
3. Cows are not humans, and will be killed anyway. Humans are easily scared and not too clever about medicine. Farming is a big, industrialized business. Killing them all makes economic sense and is the best PR. (For another eg. - foot & mouth disease - in the past farmers would wait a couple of weeks until the cattle/sheep got better, and butcher the ones the went lame. But nowadays there's more profit to be made by killing the infected to avoid the spread of 2 weeks of unprofitable cows than by waiting til they're over it. NB the diseases/risks are not at all the same thing - this example is merely to illustrate the harsh economics of modern farming).

[_Schadenfreude_]

Originally posted by Maverick
Wulfe,

The question still remains. If it is non contageous, why destroy the herds? Second question, if it is not transmitable to other species, why the worry about contracting it from eating meat from a "mad cow"?

This just doesn't compute.

The prions that cause the disease can be found in the brain and spinal columns of the infected animals - if this is eaten, either in the form of mechanically rendered meat ( you blow the meat off the skeleton with high pressure hoses) then the goo is made into animal feed or low coast meat products...er like cheap sausages or patties etc then it can be transferred to either the animal or human food chain.

It's a very, very nasty disease and there is no cure. You can't even destroy prions with heat or radiation - they remain active so for instance if you take out the tonsils of someone infected you have to use disposable surgical equipment - as you cannot disinfect it and could contaminate someone else if it were used again.

[Zapata]

How is this disease detected?  Standard blood tests or other diagnosis?  

I've read it can be up to ten years before a human shows symptoms of MCD, any truth to this?  I've been eating UK steaks and burgers for two years now, but I'm told it's one of the best regulated industries now after the outbreaks of a few years ago.  If I am infected (US or UK beef - who cares), I figure I've got about eight years or so left.  Sounds like ordering your steak well-done isn't the answer either.  Heck, I'm thinking of giving up red meat altogether what with all the hormones and what not.  

Saw some footage of a human victim of MCD, not very pretty - extreme shakes, looked like partial paralysis although the patient was walking/shuffling across the room - I stopped laughing at mad cow jokes after that.

Thanks for any info.  Too lazy to google and it sounds like some of you know a lot about this.

[TheManx]

It is well regulated, that's why they caught it before it hit the food chain.

[Kirin]

What the heck is BSI?  

It's BSE: Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy - means, that the cows brain will look like a sponge...

A syndrom is a complex of symptoms which can have different causes (e.g. Morbus Cushing=Microadenoma of the hypophysis -vs.- Cushing Syndrom = Hypercortisonism with various etiology)

BSE is clearly a disease - and an infectious one! The infectious agent are indeed prions which is a protein that exists in ALL vertabrae species. That's why the immune system tolerates that false-formed protein. Current research is developing a vaccine for BSE.

In a sick individual that protein is somehow wrongly folded and starts polymerizing thus causing the disease.



What caused all the hassle was that BSE shows an alarming similarity to the human Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in pathology as in symptoms. Also scrapie (the sheep form) is being speculated to have transfered to cows - so if interspecial infection is possible why should man be safe? When I started studying in 1996 Dr. Aguzzi told us that human infection from eating beef was not possible - seems like that changed a bit in the last few years.

I refer to Prof.Dr.A.Aguzzi which held some BSE lectures at the university. He is one of the leading prion scientist in Europe (worldwide?).

[Holden McGroin]

In the 1960's in New Guinea, a prion disease took the lives of over 1,100 people.

Called Kuru, (more or less a mad people diesease) it was transmitted thru ritual acts of mortuary cannibalism.   In order to honor uncle Fred, Guineas ate a piece of him, passing on the prion.

If we fed beef only vegetable matter, Mad Cow would cease.

When we recycle slaughterhouse stuff in cattle feed, we ask for Prion problems.

[Torque]

There is another reported case in Canada, Hamilton region and i believe the cow actually has a name , Shelia Copps.

[myelo]

The fear is that this case represents the beginning of an outbreak similar to the previous one in Europe. This is very unlikely. More probable is that this represents a very low "background" rate of infection. About 200,000 cattle are tested each year.

Nevertheless, the economic impact will be significant. The beef industry in Canada was decimated after a single infected cow was detected. This was due to decreased consumption but more significantly due to the regulatory response, as many countries, including the US, banned Canadian beef products.

The beef industry in the US has been on a roll, with historically high cattle prices. In large part this has been due to the ban on Canadian beef export. You can figure that all ended about 12 hours ago.

So although the economic impact will be significant, I think the public health risk is minimal. Your risk of choking to death on a steak is still higher than your risk of getting CJD from a steak.

[myelo]

Originally posted by Zapata
How is this disease detected?  Standard blood tests or other diagnosis?

In cattle, by microscopic examination of brain tissue collected at slaughter.

In human patients, tentative diagnosis is based on the signs and symptoms and excluding other potential diseases. Definitive diagnosis is based on examination of brain tissue, either by biopsy or post-mortem.

I've read it can be up to ten years before a human shows symptoms of MCD, any truth to this?

Yes, the incubation period (time from infection to disease) is years; both in cattle and in people.