Mad Cow Lawyer & Attorney : Marler Clark : Mad Cow Blog

The first case of Mad Cow disease in Italy in two years has been uncovered at a research laboratory in the northern city of Turin, it was reported on Sept. 26th. The positive sample came from a 13-year-old cow belonging to a herd from Lombardy in the Milan region, according to the ANSA news agency. The laboratory, which specialises in bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) or Mad Cow disease, said the discovery brings to 142 the total number of cows that have now tested positive in Italy.

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Spain is reporting on the first mother-son deaths due to the human form of Mad Cow disease, reports CNN's Madrid Bureau.  From that report:

The mother of a Spanish man who died from the human form of mad cow disease has also died from the illness, Spain's Ministry of Health said Wednesday.

It is believed to be the first case in the world where two members of the same family have died from mad cow disease, said Juan Jose Badiola, director of Spain's national research center for mad cow disease.

"It's noteworthy that there's a double case in the same family," Badiola said.

Until now, Badiola added, clinical evidence that he's seen from the United Kingdom and France -- which have had the most deaths due to the human form of mad cow disease -- have not recorded two cases in a single family.

See the rest of the story here.

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We are adding Rick Plumlee at The Wichita Eagle to our list to our list to check out on the weekends.  For some reason, some of the best stories relating to food safety and agriculture are held for weekend publication.  This one ran Saturday.:

Researchers have discovered that genetic mutation may sometimes cause mad cow disease, raising hopes that breeders will be able to use the information to eliminate one avenue for the disease.

The findings were announced Friday by Kansas State University, where one of the researchers, Juergen Richt, joined its veterinary medicine faculty this summer.

"We now know (mad cow disease is) also in the genes of cattle," Richt said. "Genetic BSE we can combat."

Until several years ago, Richt said it was thought that mad cow disease -- bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE -- was strictly a foodborne disease. But the new findings show the disease is also caused by a genetic mutation within the prion protein gene.

For the rest of the story, go here.

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Case Western Law Professor Jonathan Adler writes on the widely read blog called The Volokh Conspiracy.  He's set off an interesting discussion over there with a column titled: WAS CREEKSTONE REALLY ABOUT SPEECH?  Professor Adler raises the question of whether "the USDA was less concerned about the testing than it was about what Creekstone might say about it."

Check his analysis here.  Many comments are attached and it all is worth reading.

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When is a test a treatment?   Whenever two of three federal judges say so.  That at least would seem to be the answer coming out of Creekstone Farms lengthy attempt to get the U.S. Department of Agriculture to allow it to test all of its animals for Mad Cow disease.

Creekstone wants to go to 100 percent testing of its herd, up from the 1 percent USDA now requires.  Creekstone figures "Mad Cow" tested beef would go over well in South Korea and Japan where the public worries about such things.   USDA, however, said "No."

USDA said it did not want Creekstone putting marketing pressure on big U.S. beef suppliers.  That's when Creekstone took the issue to federal court and won at the trial court level.   USDA filed an appeal.  With some irony, the appeal court battle was carried out while thousands of South Koreans took to the streets and successfully held off U.S. beef over fear of Mad Cow disease for several months.

The U.S. Court of Appeals, however, sided with (surprise!) the government.  In a 2-1 decision, it said 1913 Virus-Serum-Toxin Act gave USDA the authority to prevent sale of mad-cow test kits to meat packers.

The old law gives USDA he power to control products for "prevention, diagnosis, management or care of diseases of animals."    While there is a test for Mad Cow  disease, there is no treatment.  Death is certain.

The Appeals Court made its decision and sent the case back to district court for handling the details. We've not seen any comment out of Creekstone.  It previously said the holdup over testing was costing it $200,000 day.

According to Reuters, David Sentelle, chief judge of the District of Columbia appeals circuit, dissented from the decision. He said USDA "exceeds the bounds of reasonableness" for a law enacted to prevent the sale of ineffective animal medicine.

 USDA allows the mad-cow test kits to be sold only to laboratories that it approves. It says the tests should not be used as a marketing tool and the cattle that comprise the bulk of the meat supply are too young to be tested reliably.

Is it great to know your tax dollars are at work, preventing tests promoting food safety to be used as a "marketing tool?"  

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