First U.S. Resident Diagnosed With Mad Cow

ABC NEWS ^ | April 18 2002 | ABC NEWS

[twigs]

first case of mad cow disease in a resident of the United States has been diagnosed in a 22-year-old British citizen living in Florida

This doesn't sound right. I have a friend whose mother died in the US of CJD and he was told it was related to MCD. He, along with his daughter, have been banned from ever giving blood b/c authorities do not know how this disease is spread.

[Piquaboy]

The first name that came to my mind was McKinney, MAD COW!

[PA Engineer]

ABC is so full of it. There are many variants. My wife has diagnosed five (5) cases (confirmed by autopsy) in the last two years. The greatest threat at the moment is the old human Growth Hormone (hGH). This was the likely cause of her last diagnosis in January of this year. Please check out the following link to the real timebomb in the US.

CJD and hGH

[blam]

" Ever heard of Kuru? "

Is this the one in SE Asian where the brains of the 'elders' were ritualistically eaten to gain their knowledge, etc?

[realpatriot71]

Is this the one in SE Asian where the brains of the 'elders' were ritualistically eaten to gain their knowledge, etc?

Yes - I think the brains of all the dead were eaten, as well as this I think canabalism was practiced between warring tribes.

[aShepard]

Hey Chelsea, have another hamburger!

[Doctor Stochastic]

The disease turns one's brain to sponge. Actually it crystallized some proteins in the brain and slowly causes the brain to cease functioning. It is supposed to be rather painful and accompanied by loss of bodily functions and inability to sleep. The "infectious" agent is believed to be a small protein called a prion Getting this in the brain causes crystallization of similar proteins, like dropping a crystal into a saturated sugar solution. Prions are not inactivated by cooking.

The tendency to CJD runs in families. There are about 300 spontaneous cases per year among people not at risk. No treatments.

The Mad Cow variant seems to develop much more rapidly. The disease is similar to scrapie in sheep and kuru among Bornean canibals. Similar diseases cause wasting in elk, moose, and mice. The Mad Cow variant seems to be the only one that has jumped species.

[Doctor Stochastic]

I hope the aclohol kills all the bugs as we had steak tonight.

Unfortunately the prion isn't living. It's just a crystal. Alcohol does kill most bacteria and viruses (except for anthrax spores.)

[Doctor Stochastic]

Unfortunately some nerve tissue can get into meat and meat products. Britain has introduced more stringint screenings of butcher shops and is requiring more careful meat cutting.

There was a story about a village that had several cases of Mad Cow (in people) and all were traced to a butcher shop that didn't keep nerve fibre (British cow) out of the meat products. Patrons of the other butchers in town didn't have any Mad Cow cases.

Your recommendation to avoid brain is good though. I haven't seen brain in the markets for some time now.

[realpatriot71]

Unfortunately some nerve tissue can get into meat and meat products. Britain has introduced more stringint screenings of butcher shops and is requiring more careful meat cutting.

This is true of hamburger, sausage, bologna, etc. - all of the minced up and or processed meats. Steak which is cut directly from the muscle should not be much of an issue. However, I suppose those cuts that come from the back near the spine (I forget which ones - gotta love Ag class) could have some possibility of contamination.

Eat more chicken? :-)

[Issaquahking]

Thanks for the updates on Mad Cow disease. I understand Janet Reno is trying to pass her's of as Parkinson's?

[Iowa Granny]

Thought you would find this interesting.

[Sungirl]

Not transmission to humans to date, but people are still being warned to be careful.

Be Careful? HOW??

[rmvh]

Re your # 68....

Well, I was just having some fun with the comment about having a drink instead of worrying about M.C.

I don't want to enter into a detailed technical discussion now, merely trying to point out that life is full of dangers and the idea is to live it to the fullest...with reasonable care, of course.

Cheers.

[aristeides]

BRAIN SALAD is a delicious Turkish appetizer.

[realpatriot71]

Be Careful? HOW??

I'm not a deer hunter, so you could check out some hunting websites on CWD for more info. But as I understand it, they suggest not hunting and eating any animals from a herd known to have had a particular animal die from CWD. Also, when dressing the animal make sure to avoid contaiminating any meat you're going to eat with brain or spinal matter.

[realpatriot71]

BRAIN SALAD is a delicious Turkish appetizer.

I'll pass thank you :-)

[Betty Jo]

Ah, yes Florida!

Sure seems to be a Micky Mouse state!

Couldnt resist!

Perhaps the medical matrix of Binny has designed a bioweapon from Mad Cow?

Maybe the bad guys were playing Cho-Choo yesterday?

[a_Turk]

Some of our delicious delicacies I find quite disgusting, even though I have never tried them. Sheep balls also fit that category :^D