Nodaway County, MO Health Officials Explain "Mad Cow"

Posted on September 25, 2009 by Mad Cow Lawyer

The Nodaway County Health Center, in northwest Missouri, has provided some excellent information on the nature and perceived sources of "mad cow" disease in humans, as reported in Nodaway News Leader. Apparently, there is public concern over an unconfirmed report of a local death attributable to Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, CJD.

I found these paragraphs very helpful. First, the basic nature of the nearly always fatal CJD is explained.

CJD is believed to be caused by an abnormal form of a naturally-occurring protein that results in destructive changes to the brain. This abnormal protein is called a prion. Prion diseases have been recognized in various species of animals for many years.

Next the different types of CJD, and their respective causes are delineated.

• CJD occurs in several forms. Sporadic CJD, sCJD, is the most common, accounting for about 80 percent of the cases. It occurs mainly in persons 55-75 years of age, but can occur in younger and older individuals as well. This disease is rapidly progressive, with death occurring an average of seven months after symptoms first begin. It
• Genetic CJD is another form, accounting for 10-15 percent of the cases. This disease may be caused when persons inherit genes that make them more susceptible to development of prions in the brain.
• A third form is hospital-acquired CJD. A small number of people have apparently contracted this disease when they received materials such as pituitary hormone, brain tissues or corneal grafts from an infected person, or when surgical instruments used on an infected person were then used on an uninfected person.
• A final and more recently recognized form of CJD is variant CJD, vCJD. Variant CJD was first recognized in 1996, and has been linked to bovine spongiform encephalopathy, BSE. Human cases are thought to have been caused by consumption of BSE-contaminated meat or other tissues, primarily in Great Britain during the 1980s. This disease tends to affect younger persons than sCJD; the average age at death for vCJD is 29 years. The course of vCJD is longer than that of sCJD, with an average survival time of 14 months.

Finally, the health center notes that to date, the apparent threat of CJD in humans in the U.S. is very small. Thanks to Nodaway County health officials for some very informative writing.
 

Tags: , , , ,

Japanese Beef Import Ban Over Mad Cow Unlikely to Ease

Posted on September 17, 2009 by Mad Cow Lawyer

Restrictions on import of U.S. beef into Japan, in place since 2003, are unlikely to ease under the new Japanese government, according to this report from Reuters.

The Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) picked up the reins of government on Wednesday in a coalition with two small parties, including the Social Democrats, which oppose both easing beef import rules and opening Japan to more farm imports.

The U.S. beef industry says it has lost some $10 billion in sales to Japan in the six years since Tokyo banned imports of American beef due to mad cow disease. It allowed some supplies to resume in 2006 but under strict limits.

Current import restrictions limit U.S. imports to beef from cattle aged 20 months or younger.   U.S. government officials are working to raise the limit to 30 months, but there has been no movement yet.

Tags: , , ,

Greek Scientists Report Ability of Farmed Fish to Carry BSE

Posted on September 15, 2009 by Mad Cow Lawyer

A group of Greek scientists, led by Evgenia Salta, are reporting that farmed sea bream, a commercially farmed fish, can carry and develop BSE or "mad cow" disease when fed contaminated feed.

While this is not a finding of contaminated fish in the wild, the ability of such fish to develop contaminated brain tissue after exposure may be  problematic.   According to this article, the study authors'  conclude:

"the possibility that the affected sea bream brain tissue might be infectious, must be taken seriously in any consideration to lift EU feed bans, especially those related to farmed fish.”

The study did not investigate whether contaminated fish had any ability to contaminate other fish. 

 

Tags:

Ranchers Criticize USDA Mad Cow Policy

Posted on September 11, 2009 by Mad Cow Lawyer

The Rapid City Journal reports that the CEO of a cattle rancher association aimed public criticisms at the USDA's "mad cow" policy.  Bill Bullard, CEO of R-CALF, made his remarks at the annual Stockgrowers Association meeting in Rapid City.   Among Bullard's criticisms:

  • The USDA' s policy with respect to Canadian Cattle.   Bullard complained that the "USDA still has not overturned its rule allowing all Canadian cattle and beef to come into the U.S., despite the discovery of 17 cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy in that country's cattle."
  • International buyers, including Japan, continue to limit U.S. beef exports due to concerns over "mad cow"  or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).
  • USDA continues to allow mingling of Mexican and U.S. cattle as well, raising concerns of bovine tuberculosis, a threat to the health of U.S. cattle herds.

Moving beyond the topic of BSE, Bullard also criticized sanitary conditions at large slaughterhouses:  "We see in the beef industry an increase in e-coli and other foodborne illnesses that originate not from the meat, but from the intestine.  These are enteric bacteria that can only contaminate meat if the meat is contaminated with fecal material. It's a sanitary issue."

Tags: , , ,

In the UK, Calls for Testing of Blood Supplies After Donor Dies of vCJD

Posted on September 5, 2009 by Mad Cow Lawyer

It remains to be seen if variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD), often referred to as "mad cow disease," will become as much of a problem here in the U.S. that it is in the U.K.   The reach of the threat posed by vCJD however is illustrated by this story about possible contamination of public blood supply.   

The Daily Echo reports: 

A campaign for all donated blood to be screened for the human form of mad cow disease is being led locally by a young woman [Lisa Farrant]  from Fordingbridge, after her grandmother, a keen blood donor, died from the disease.

Farrant's grandmother may have been exposed to vCJD as a cafeteria worker where "mechanically recovered meat" was often an ingredient in school meals (editorial note - yuck).

It does not appear that the blood supply in the UK is currently screened for vCJD, nor does it appear that a proper test is imminent:

A spokesperson for the National Blood Service said while there was no approved test of spleens and tonsils as yet, the Advisory Committee on the Safety of Blood, Tissues and Organs (SaBTO) are evaluating the tests and hope to make their recommendations to the government soon.

Let's hope it never comes to this point in the U.S.

Tags: , ,