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Muscle meat infects!
The common belief is that the disease is transmitted by humans eating beef infected with bovine spongiform
encephalopathy.
BSE is normally found in a cow's brain and spinal tissue. By removing those organs from beef production,
meat industry and agriculture officials contend that the consumer is protected.
The remaining muscle tissue is safe, they claim.
But some research has challenged whether the potential for the disease is limited to the cow's central
nervous system or can be found in muscle tissue.
(However)Researchers have detected these disease-causing prions in the muscle tissue of humans
who died of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a degenerative brain disorder.
A study on mice raised similar questions. http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99995021
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MORE TESTING NEEDED
http://www.madison.com/wisconsinstatejournal/local/63948.php
Judd Aiken, a prion scientist at UW-Madison, said Wednesday that the infective nature of prions
probably justifies more thorough testing of livestock meant for human consumption and heightened precautions when it comes
to processing meat.
in England where all cows meant for consumption are tested and where all animal parts, not just parts
from beef livestock, are banned from feed.
"I think probably that is where we're going to have to go," Aiken said.
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TONGUE IS INFECTIOUS
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http://www.nature.com/nsu/021230/021230-5.html
Tongue meat could carry a risk of infection from mad cow disease, a new report suggests.
In cows, the brain might download prions to the tongue. In humans, prions might enter via the tongue,
Bessen's team proposes.
Prions injected into hamsters' tongues took 1-2 weeks to reach the brain. These animals fell ill in
around 80 days - compared with 190 days when infected through the gut.
Prions can enter through small wounds on the tongue. "A lesion, cut or infection could enhance
the ability of [an animal or person] to become infected," says Bessen.
"It can presumably propagate the infections pretty rapidly to the brain," says prion researcher Byron
Caughey of Rocky Mountain Labs in Hamilton, Montana.
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FEED MILLS DON"T PROTECT US
http://www.agobservatory.org/madcow/index.cfm?id=4649
Mad Cow Rules Violated by Feed Mills in Washington State
Two cattle feed mills near the farm where the first incidence of Mad Cow disease was identified have
been in violation of federal regulations meant to prevent the disease, also known as Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE).
M & E Seed & Grain Co. Inc, is a violator of Mad Cow prevention rules. It is located
13 miles from Mabton, WA, the town where the first case of Mad Cow was discovered this month. M & E handles cattle feed
and also distributes material prohibited in cattle feed raising a red flag. It was last inspected in October 2002.
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