Mad Cow Disease

You may have noticed British beef products are disappearing. There is an out-and-out ban on imports and existing products are being pulled from grocery shelves in the U. S., Canada and many other countries. Fear of mad cow disease (bovine spongiform encephalopathy, BSE) has prompted this action. British officials first identified mad cow disease in 1986. It is a progressive neurological disorder of cattle that results from infection by an unconventional agent - a protein.

Researchers suspect that cattle got the disease from sheep. Sheep have their own form of the disease called scrapie. The outbreak, which peaked in 1996, may have resulted from the feeding of scrapie-containing sheep meat and bone meal to cattle. In other words, body parts from sick sheep were rendered and processed into feed for young calves (cattle are vegetarian by nature).

Currently, the theory is that the pathogen is a modified form of a normal cell known as prion protein. The pathogenic (poison) form of the protein is resistant to enzyme degradation and cooking temperatures. The mutated prion eats away at the brains of infected victims. The brain becomes pitted with holes, much like a sponge, thus the name "spongiform." It produces abnormalities such as disorientation, staring at imaginary objects and kicking and pawing the ground, dementia and eventually death.

Nearly 100 people in Britain have died from the human form of mad cow disease and a few people in France and Ireland have died as well. British officials have admitted downplaying the severity of this disease since it is rare for an animal disease to jump to another species, which is what mad cow disease has done.

U. S. authorities have been monitoring cattle in this country for years. Suspect animals exhibiting strange behavior are killed and tested. So far the cattle industry has not detected mad cow disease in a single animal in the U. S.

 

Spring 2001
Finding the Best Site for a Garden Is More Than a Random Process | Build a Raised Bed | It Takes a Kernel of Skill to Grow Great Sweet Corn | Pruning Ornamentals Keeps Your Garden on the Cutting Edge | Lawn Care Calendar | Hort Shorts | Hort Tips | Mad Cow Disease | Green Eggs: The Science of Egg Cookery | Concern for Egg Safety | New National Standards for Organic Food | Your Spring Vegetable Garden Plan | Health & Household Tips | Did You Know?

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