July 24, 2002 MAD COWS OR MAD SCIENTISTS? THE SUPPRESSION OF ALTERNATIVE EXPLANATIONS By David CroweThe smoke and flames from funeral pyres for hundreds of thousands of British cows are fading into distant memory, but the fear of this disease affecting livestock or wildlife continues to circulate the globe. Most people do not realize that there is a non-infectious explanation for Mad Cow disease and other spongiform encephalopathies and chronic wasting diseases. This is due to the reluctance of scientists, health and agriculture bureaucrats and most of the media to question a theory that affects public health once it is...