[torstars]

BSE prions have never been discovered to be present in muscle tissue.

Over what time frame? I think you are just talking about sensitivities of assays. Transmission of vCJD by transfusion is quite solid. The prions are almost certainly in blood, but at lower concentrations, which may just mean a longer incubation time.

[prairiebreeze]

I was referring to the same accepted scientific knowlege that Sec. of Agriculture Ann Veneman used in the USDA press conference on Tuesday, that the BSE prion hasn't ever been confirmed present in beef muscle tissue.

Prairie

[VetoBill]

The prions are almost certainly in blood, but at lower concentrations, which may just mean a longer incubation time.

Once again if blood is a source of transmission, why do we not see a huge outbreak in BSE cases. The USDA could not cover up all the cases we would be seeing if blood was an effective transfer agent.

As I have stated on other threads, when cattle are vaccinated, dehorned, castrated, etc... needles, dehorning tools, and knives are shared between cattle; hence blood is shared. If blood is shared, there is a great risk of spreading the prions from the contaminated blood source to all the herd. One cow will infect all.

The potential would be exponential if blood was a reliable and high risk transfer agent. A long incubation time wouldn't mean squat, the number infected would dwarf any method to contain or to keep quite the infection rate.