Did you know: Mad cow disease came about from farmers forcing cows to eat other cows? Yeah the big things that eat grass are being fed meat which used to include other cows until mad cow disease forced the other cows out of the diet.
"Research indicates that the first probable infections of BSE in cows occurred during the 1970's with two cases of BSE being identified in 1986. BSE possibly originated as a result of feeding cattle meat-and-bone meal that contained BSE-infected products from a spontaneously occurring case of BSE or scrapie-infected sheep products. Scrapie is a prion disease of sheep. There is strong evidence and general agreement that the outbreak was then amplified and spread throughout the United Kingdom cattle industry by feeding rendered, prion-infected, bovine meat-and-bone meal to young calves."
Something to think about.
Resource CDC http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/bse/
2 comments:
Prions are one of my pet things to learn about. BSE, scrapie, and CJD (the most common prion disease in humans) are actaually pretty serious, as unlike other diseases they are not species specific. You're information is mostly correct, there is a higher incidence of BSE (and scrapie) in the uk and europe compared to the US, as inexpensive protein feed alternatives such as soya are less available here. However it is not the bone or meat itself which is contaminated, rather the central nervous tissue. bone infact is highly unlikely to carry even a single prion, but is more likely to be contaminated with nerverous tissue, than cuts away from long bone. the ban on meat on the bone in the uk during the 90's has now been acknowledged as an unnessisary procaution. since the late 80's strict controls have been placed on the slaughter and butchering of meat, so as to prevent any contamination with suseptable tissue. Fortunely for those infected this is a slow progressing disease, but that also makes it dificult to diagnose. there is no known treatment, due to the size of the prion protein, and the fact that is mimics essential brain proteins almost exactly. those most at risk are those who consumed ground meat products or nervous tissue during the late 70's and 80's. the effects are compounded by consumption, so the more you had the more likely you are to be infected, or more severely affected. As with pretty much anything, those who ate/eat in moderation are safe from harmful affects.
@Mags that is a lot of information in one paragraph haha. Thanks for the expansion on what I posted. This is what you are studying then? Its pretty crazy stuff to read when I was researching about it. Seems to be under control now but you never know.
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