The US Department of Agriculture confirmed during this Friday's 'dumping' session that a new case of
bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), more commonly known as "Mad Cow Disease," has been identified in the US cattle supply.
[snark]
The cow was heard to be screaming at the top of her lungs about something it referred to as "The DSM." It is unclear exactly what a DSM is, but as soon as reporters figure it out they assure us they will promptly ignore it.
[end snark]
BSE is a fatal, neurodegenerative disease of cattle, which appears transmissible to humans. It is believed that humans can contract a fatal, brain-wasting disease, known as
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, from consuming beef products contaminated with the mad cow pathogen.
[EDIT: cleaned up phrasing for consistency]
More below the fold.
The public health impact:
This is the second case to be identified in two years. The first confirmed case was in a dairy cow, revealed in December 23rd, 2003 in Washington State, and was followed closely by
import restrictions on US Beef throughout the world, particularly in Japan and South Korea. Within days of the discovery,
53 countries banned American beef.
Sciencedaily reports:
The USDA had cleared the animal free of the disease last November, although it had twice tested positive on rapid tests. Agency personnel ran a more sophisticated test called immunohistochemistry, which did not find any indications of the disease. The agency, however, did not conduct a second kind of test called a Western blot, which many countries do when faced with conflicting results.
The USDA's Office of Inspector General, for reasons that have not yet been made public, requested the agency run the Western blot on the cow earlier this month, and it came back positive. To confirm the infection, the USDA last week sent a sample of the cow's brain to an internationally recognized laboratory in Weybridge, England, which concluded it was positive after running rapid tests, IHC and Western blot.
Wikipedia provides more background on nature of this pathogen:
Unlike other kinds of infectious disease which are spread by microbes, the infectious agent in BSE is a specific type of protein. Misshaped ("misfolded") prion proteins carry the disease between individuals and cause deterioration of the brain.
[...]
Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) can arise in animals that carry a rare mutant prion allele, which expresses prions that contort by themselves into the disease-causing shape. Most TSEs, however, occur sporadically, in animals that do not have a prion protein mutation. Transmission can occur when healthy animals consume tainted tissues from others with the disease. In the brain these proteins cause native cellular prion protein to deform into the infectious state which then goes on to deform further prion protein in an exponential cascade. These aggregate to form dense plaque fibers, which lead to the microscopic appearance of "holes" in the brain, degeneration of physical and mental abilities and ultimately death.
So that ain't so bad. This woman isn't concerned at all, but also note her ignorance about what BSE is.
The Washington Post:
Sandy Sanders, 43, said while dining at a McDonald's in Columbus, Ohio, Friday afternoon reports of mad cow disease don't bother her.
"Everything has some kind of bacteria," she said.
Five bucks says she doesn't know what Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease looks like.
Still, the only way BSE should get transmitted through a herd is if a cow, a ruminant by nature, were to go carnivore and sample the spicy brains and spinal cord of the cow in the next stall. Right?
Sciencedaily continues:
The Consumers Union, a watch dog group, is concerned that mad cow could be amplified in U.S. herds because there are loopholes in a 1997 ban that prohibits cow tissues from being incorporated into cattle feed.
"Even the remains of an animal known to carry a mad cow-type disease could legally go into feed for pigs, chickens and pets under current Food and Drug Administration rules," Consumers Union said in a statement.
[...]
Consumers Union said consumers who want to minimize their risk should avoid eating cow brains and other processed beef products, like sausages and hot dogs, that could contain central nervous system tissue, which can carry the mad cow pathogen. Consumers could also opt for beef products from organic or grass-fed cows because they are not fed the remains of other animals, the group said.
Ask yourself: what sort of sick and twisted man first thought it was a good idea to feed cow parts to other cows?
Just over 1 in every 100 cattle slaughtered each year is tested for BSE, so one cannot say just how prevelent BSE is in the US cattle supply. This cow was tested after it demonstrated severe neurological damage and was unable to stand up or walk.
This animal was born before 1997 when the current feed laws were enacted which suggests that BSE may have arrived in the US nearly ten years ago: a conclusion which should not make you feel any safer about eating beef.
The economic impacts:
Industry representatives suggest that the US has lost 4 billion dollars due to export restrictions and loss of sales due to the BSE scare. Today, those losses continued:
The Washington Post:
McDonald's Corp. shares dropped about 1 percent to $28.28, near its low for the day. Wendy's International Inc. closed down less than 1 percent to $46.53 and Outback Steakhouse Inc. dropped nearly 1 percent to close $45.05, a few cents off its Friday low.
Jack in the Box Inc. and Applebee's International Inc. also closed lower.
The Bush administration hasn't completely ignored their embarassment in December of 2003 when the first case was identified. The 2004 budget proposed a whopping $60 million for researching and monitoring, while cutting the USDA's overall budget:
USDA plans 7 percent IT cut:
With concern about mad cow disease at the top of USDA's agenda, the president's $60 million budget request for mad cow-related research and monitoring includes $33 million to develop a national animal identification plan that would track animals from the farm to the slaughterhouse.