29th suspected case of Mad Cow in Japan
26.sep.06
Associated Press
Preliminary tests on the animal at the
The cow died at a ranch and was brought to the hygiene center for initial testing.
To date,
In July,
No plans to end rule on older Canadian cattle: USDA | Reuters.ca
What is Mad Cow?
Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), referred to as "mad cow disease," is a chronic degenerative nervous system disease affecting cattle. The disease was first diagnosed in 1986 in Great Britain. BSE is so named because of the spongy appearance of the brain tissue of infected cattle when sections are examined under a microscope.
Affected animals may display changes in temperament, such as nervousness or aggression, abnormal posture and difficulty in rising, decreased milk production, or loss of body weight despite continued appetite. Affected cattle die or are killed.
The incubation period (the time from when an animal becomes infected until it first shows signs of disease) is from 2 to 8 years. Following the onset of clinical signs, the animal's condition deteriorates until it dies. This process usually takes from 2 weeks to 6 months.
Currently, there is no test to detect the disease in a live animal; veterinary pathologists confirm BSE by postmortem microscopic examination of brain tissue or by the detection of the abnormal form of the prion protein.
Since November 1986, over 178,000 head of cattle have been diagnosed with BSE in Great Britain. The epidemic peaked in January 1993 at approximately 1,000 new cases reported per week. Agricultural officials in Great Britain have taken a series of actions to eradicate BSE, including making BSE a notifiable disease, prohibiting the inclusion of mammalian meat-and-bone meal in feed for all food-producing animals, prohibiting the inclusion of animals more than 30 months of age in the animal and human food chains, and destroying all animals showing signs of BSE and other animals at high risk of developing the disease.
The identification in 2003 of a BSE case in Canada, and the subsequent identification later that year of a BSE case in the United States that had been imported from Canada led to the concern that indigenous transmission of BSE may be occurring in North America. In response, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) implemented additional safeguards to minimize the risk for human exposure to BSE and on July 1, 2004, initiated a 12- to 18-month-long intensive testing program for BSE among cattle at relatively high risk for the disease (e.g., non-ambulatory cattle). A US-bred cow was found to be BSE-positive in June 2005 in Texas.
Mad about "Mad Cow"
This is a section of a human brain showing spongiform pathology characteristic of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease.
This is a picture of a "downer cow" with neurologic disease from bovine spongiform encephalopathy ("mad cow").
This is a picture of an 18 year old victim of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD).
Prion diseases are a group of rare, brain disorders which occur both in humans and certain animals. They first came to public attention in the mid 1980s in the form of the BSE epidemic in the United Kingdom. BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) is a prion disease in cattle. Tissue from infected animals may have contaminated cattle feed, leading to the silent spread of the BSE epidemic. There is also a theory that BSE came from feed contaminated with scrapie, the long established sheep prion disease. Inevitably, concern over whether BSE could pass to humans mounted.
In humans the best known of the prion diseases is Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD), which reportedly affects around one person per million per year. In the United States this translates to 250-300 new cases per year. It is well known that CJD is very difficult to diagnose leading to speculation that the one case per million report may be incorrect. Most of the cases are "classical" or "sporadic" CJD (sCJD), occurring for no, as yet, known reason. The sporadic form accounts for approximately 85% of the cases, the familial form approximately 15%. There have also been a few cases which have occurred from contamination via medical procedures; this type is known as iatrogenic or Acquired CJD. Finally over the last few years, another type of Acquired CJD called variant (vCJD) has been identified in young people. vCJD has been linked to ingestion of beef tainted with BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy), most cases have occurred in the United Kingdom
Tyson looks to South Korea beef sales
The Associated Press/
By MARCUS KABEL
AP Business Writer
SEP. 8 4:07 P.M. ET Tyson Foods Inc., the world's largest meat processor, hopes to resume beef sales to South Korea now that the Asian nation has finalized plans to lift a 2003 ban imposed over mad cow disease fears.
South Korea had been Tyson's third-largest foreign beef market.
South Korea on Friday approved resuming imports of U.S. beef after repeated delays in implementing an earlier decision to lift the ban.
"We're encouraged by South Korea's decision to resume U.S. beef imports," said Gary Mickelson, a spokesman for Springdale, Ark.-based Tyson.
"While we hope to begin sending beef there soon, we must first receive additional clarification from USDA on the requirements involved," Mickelson said in a reference to the U.S. Agriculture Department.
South Korea's Agriculture Ministry said 36 U.S. slaughterhouses designated to handle meat for export to South Korea met required safety measures, clearing the last hurdle to the resumption of imports.
South Korea will notify the slaughterhouses of the approval Monday, and the beef can start to be sold in the South Korean market some 25 days later, the ministry said in a statement.
Tyson's beef plants are among those 36 slaughterhouses, Mickelson said. The company currently operates nine U.S. beef plants, although it recently announced that one plant in Boise, Idaho, will be closed this fall.
South Korea shut its doors to U.S. beef imports in December 2003 after the first U.S. case of mad cow disease.
Scientists believe the illness -- formally called bovine spongiform encephalopathy -- spreads when farmers feed cattle recycled meat and bones from infected animals, and it is linked to a rare, fatal human variant, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.
In July, Japan lifted its own ban on American beef. Before the ban, Japan was a top destination for U.S. beef, importing $1.4 billion worth a year.
South Korea to Resume U.S. Beef Imports
South Korea to Lift a 2003 Ban on U.S. Beef Imports Imposed Because of Mad Cow Fears
SEOUL, South Korea - (AP) - South Korea on Friday approved resuming imports of U.S. beef after repeated delays in implementing an earlier decision to lift a 2003 ban imposed because of mad cow fears.
South Korea's Agriculture Ministry said 36 U.S. slaughterhouses designated to handle meat for export to South Korea met required safety measures, clearing the last hurdle to the resumption of imports. The country had previously been the third-largest market for U.S. beef.
South Korea will notify the slaughterhouses of the approval Monday, and the beef can start to be sold in the South Korean market some 25 days later, the ministry said in a statement.
Yoshinoya announces resumption of hit 'beef bowl'
Employees of Yoshinoya D&C Co., serve the rice dish topped with American beef for media, after Yoshinoya President Shuji Abe announced the "beef bowl" returns Wednesday. After a two-year hiatus caused by a mad-cow scare, the fast-food chain will have just a million servings on the return day, which are likely to sell out before the day is over.
Continue Reading...UK TOURIST IN MAD COW DISEASE FEAR
August 30, 2006 - 2:09PM
A 23-year-old British man visiting Hong Kong is in critical condition with a suspected case of the human variation of mad cow disease, hospital officials says.
The patient, who was not identified, sought medical treatment in Hong Kong on April 6, when he appeared mentally deranged and showed other psychiatric symptoms, Hong Kong's Hospital Authority said in a statement.
He had since received intestinal surgery and was now critically ill, the statement said.
Tests were inconclusive, but doctors suspect the patient has contracted variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease - believed to be contracted by eating animals infected with mad cow disease - based on clinical symptoms, the authority said.
The mass-market Apple Daily newspaper reported that the man was ethnic Chinese.
But Hospital Authority spokeswoman May Chan declined to disclose the man's ethnicity.
Mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, is a degenerative nerve disease in cattle.
Eating contaminated meat products has been linked to the rare but fatal variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in more than 150 deaths. The outbreak, mostly in Britain, peaked in the 1990s.
ENGINEERS DEVELOP DETECTOR FOR MAD COW, OTHER PRION DISEASES
University of Guelph
Prof Gordon Hayward
http://www.uoguelph.ca/mediarel/2006/09/guelph_engineer.html
Two University of Guelph engineers have received substantial research funding to continue developing a simple, inexpensive sensor for quick detection of brain-wasting infections related to mad-cow disease.
Profs. Gordon Hayward and Warren Stiver, School of Engineering, will use almost $200,000 in federal funding to further develop a device intended to pinpoint cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad-cow disease in cattle, and related forms of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, or prion diseases.
