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Mad Cow In The U. S. A.

Mad Cow In The U. S. A.
Mad Cow Disease

What an hour to broadcast it --> Just before Christmas. All the vegetarians are cheerfully saying, 'We have nothing to worry about', but with the US consuming so much beef one has to wonder if this disease is already on the dinner table.

ABC Nightline News:
https://www.abcnews.com

The first-ever U.S. case of mad cow disease has been identified in a single cow in Washington state. While final laboratory confirmation will take a few more days, the Agriculture Secretary said tonight that she is confident that preliminary testing is reliable.

The Agriculture Secretary insisted tonight that the American food supply is safe and even added that she will be eating beef at her holiday dinner this week. But given the enormous impact of the mad cow disease outbreak in Europe and Asia in the 1990s, there is concern tonight that the U.S. beef industry and its related industries could be devastated by this development.

A S U The Cow Mad

I thought they did not confirm the case as yet. I was surprised to hear the US Agriculture Secretary saying that a person who eats the flesh of an infected animal cannot get the dicease...now, how the rest of the cases in the world got it? by eating the meat of the infected animal!!! what is she talking about???. I know she do not want people to panic, but come on....to say something like that is crazy.

Mad Cow In The U. S. A. History & Civil Business Politics

This will be devastating to the U.S. beef industry. However, it's a wake up call for anyone who consumes commercial beef -- or any commercially raised meat or meat product.

You have to understand that the cow in question was a DAIRY cow, not a BEEF cow. She had been acting strangely and then calved -- this was when she seized and they shipped her off to the slaughter house. Here's your wake up call: they *knew* she was SICK and sent her off to be FOOD for YOU. "But wait," they say. "We removed the spinal column and brain, which is the tissue that carries the infection...." So they *knew* she had BSE and STILL sent her off to be FOOD for YOU. They lose a milker and want to at least make a few bucks off of the carcass. Corporate Greed at work. Absurd and scary. So this is their come-uppance.

And now, of course, the U.S. will whine and cry about American beef being banned when the U.S. STILL has a ban on Canadian Beef after ONE cow was found with BSE in Alberta. You just wait and see how quick the U.S. fed.gov will do a "bail out" or some other sort of financial aid for the "poor ranchers" affected by this. Grrrr!

List of Countries Banning U.S. Beef
Dec 26, 5:51 PM (ET)
By The Associated Press

The following countries have banned U.S. beef because of a case of mad cow disease in a Washington state cow:

_Argentina_Australia_Brazil_Canada (ban limited to processed meats)_Chile_China, including Hong Hong_Colombia_Egypt_Indonesia_Jamaica_
Japan_Malaysia_Mexico_Russia_Singapore_South Africa_South Korea_Taiwan_Thailand_Venezuela_Vietnam__
Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture, AP sources

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15 minutes later, I find this story -- Look out, Canada!!!

Mad Cow Story
Mad cow may have originated in Canada
By PATRICK BRETHOUR
From Saturday's Globe and Mail

CALGARY - Investigators tracing the origins of the United States' first case of mad-cow disease are turning their sights northward, saying the infected animal may have come from a Canadian herd.



Edited: FarSeer on 27th Dec, 2003 - 5:32am

A S U The Cow Mad

It is my understanding that milk cows that are slaughtered end up as feed for other cattle, not for human consumption. I hadn't heard this was a milk cow though. If it was then the main concern would be the feed that this cow became for other cattle. Also, the disease only infects the brain and spinal column tissue. The way people get this disease is by eating those parts. There are people, most not in US, that eat cow brain. Also, in a lot of places around the world this part of the animal goes into hamburger or especially hot dogs. This disease does not infect muscle cuts so a normal steak would be disease free.

Yes, the government will probably help the affected beef industry, but I don't have a problem with this. They helped the airlines after 9/11 and have helped the dairy industry for years. It is what the government does when a catastrophy strikes. Why should the beef industry be any different?

Yes, this will have a very severe impact on the industry. Many countries will ban US beef for 6 years since that is the incubation period of the disease.

In the US it is illegal to use the brain or spinal tissue in cattle feed so either it came from another country or someone broke the law! It is crucial they find the source in order to stop the further spread of this disease.

A S U The Cow Mad

I don't think nobody knows exactly how this decease is contract, mostly are just speculations in my opinion. The scary thing is that we know of one cow with that problem, how we are so sure there are no more than one?. I didn't hear also that the cow was a milky one. These are the times that I'm soooo happy to be a vegetarian!.

Mad Cow In The U. S. A.

I just read an article that supports much of what FarSeer was saying. https://msnbc.msn.com/id/3797510/

It was a milk cow and it does appear as though it has been traced to Canada. It looks like it was in the US for about 2 years. The incubation period for the disease is 4 or 5 years, so if it did come from Canada 2 years ago, it was already infected. There are differences in the records on this cow from Canada and from the US. US records place the cow at about 4 - 4 1/2 years old Canadian records say 6 - 6 1/2 years. This is important because Canada and the US both banned feeding of cattle with this "cow meal" in 1997. So if the cow is only 4 1/2 years old someone must have illegally fed this cow.

Mad Cow The U. S. A.

From the MSNBC article:

Those "key details" are pretty significantly different -- age and number of calves. I don't think it's the same cow.

And to say that the animal most likely became sick from eating contaminated feed may or may not be true. Deer and elk in the northern states and Canada have been infected with "wasting disease" for years -- it was only a matter of time before it jumped species. According to this site, "Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) is a transmissible neurological disease of deer and elk that produces small lesions in brains of infected animals. It is characterized by loss of body condition, behavioral abnormalities and death. CWD is classified as a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE), and is similar to mad cow disease in cattle and scrapie in sheep........Although CWD is a contagious fatal disease among deer and elk, research suggests that humans, cattle and other domestic livestock are resistant to natural transmission. While the possibility of human infection remains a concern, it is important to note there have been no verified cases of humans contracting CWD." [emphasis added]

Just because it hasn't happened yet, doesn't mean it *can't* happen.

It's a good idea not to consume any hamburger or sausage for awhile, unless you know where it came from -- preferably a local farm or a friend's farm.

Roz

Mad Cow The U. S. A. Politics Business Civil & History

I am a bit confused. The reports all say this was a dairy cow, yet they talk of the meat that was distributed from it. What is that all about?