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In the case of a small Sperm Whale the brains are accounted a fine dish. The casket of the skull is broken into with an axe, and the two plump, whitish lobes being withdrawn (precisely resembling two large puddings), they are then mixed with flour, and cooked into a most delectable mess, in flavor somewhat resembling calves' head, which is quite a dish among some epicures; and every one knows that some young bucks among the epicures, by continually dining upon calves' brains, by and by get to have a little brains of their own, so as to be able...

New vCJD scare rocks the UK 18:10 08 December 2006 NewScientist.com news service Debora MacKenzie A third person in the UK has caught variant CJD from another human, in a blood transfusion. Many more people may be at risk of this human form of BSE, experts warn. Three of eight people tested so far in the UK are now confirmed to have been infected with vCJD through blood transfusions, autopsies have revealed. A total of 66 people in UK are known to have received transfusions from blood donors who later went on to develop vCJD. Of those, 34 later died...

TORONTO (CP) - It could take half a century or more for someone infected with prions - the cause of mad cow-like diseases - to start showing symptoms, say researchers, who drew that conclusion after studying a similar illness among Papua New Guinean people who once feasted on their dead. Their findings suggest that the number of human cases of variant Creutzfeld-Jacob disease (vCJD) could end up being much larger than originally suspected, say the researchers, whose study is published in Friday's edition of The Lancet. With 160 cases, the United Kingdom has the highest number of recorded cases in...

Deer and elk that are infected with mad cow-like disease, known as chronic wasting disease (CWD), carry infectious agents called prions in their leg muscles, indicating that those handling and eating infected deer meat may contract the same disease, University of Kentucky researchers reported on Jan. 26 in the journal Science. This newfound evidence is shocking because the public has been informed that the infectious prion protein for CWD was only present in parts of the nervous system such as brains and backbones. It was thought in the past that only nervous tissues from infected deer were susceptible to spreading...

Britain's second possible case of person-to-person transmission of the human equivalent of mad cow disease via a blood transfusion indicates a possible second phase of the epidemic in people. What is even more worrying, experts say, is that the second victim - who received blood in 1999 from a person who later died of a new variant of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) - belongs to a different genetic group to every other of the 150 vCJD victims to date.

USDA vets question agency's mad cow lab By Steve Mitchell United Press International Published 2/9/2004 7:06 PM WASHINGTON, Feb. 9 (UPI) -- The federal laboratory in Ames, Iowa, that conducts all of the nation's tests for mad cow disease has a history of producing ambiguous and conflicting results -- to the point where many federal meat inspectors have lost confidence in it, Department of Agriculture veterinarians and a deer rancher told United Press International. The veterinarians also claim the facility -- part of the USDA and known as the National Veterinary Services Laboratories -- has refused to release testing results...

USDA declares 'extraordinary emergency' This story was published Friday, January 16th, 2004 By Les Blumenthal Herald Washington, D.C., bureau WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture has quietly declared an "extraordinary emergency" because of the discovery of a Holstein infected with mad cow disease in Mabton -- a move that will give federal officials additional authority to quarantine herds and destroy cattle. Agriculture Department officials said the declaration will also make additional funding available for their ongoing investigation and to reimburse farmers for animals that have been destroyed. The declaration was published Monday in the Federal Register, a daily publication...

Meat laws give Latino stores a jolt This story was published Wednesday, December 31st, 2003 By Mary Hopkin and Jeff St. John Herald staff writers A large sign advertising whole cow heads for $20 greeted customers at The Valley's Market in Sunnyside this week. The market sold about 40 of the heads before Christmas, but there hasn't been much demand since the Dec. 23 announcement that the first U.S. case of mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, was confirmed in a cow from a dairy less than 20 miles away. Cow heads are a popular Hispanic holiday fare. The...

TRI-CITY HERALD: French fries blocked from Asian markets This story was published Wednesday, December 31st, 2003 By Anna King, Herald staff writer More than $500,000 worth of french fries is being held in limbo at Northwest and Asian ports in an unexpected spin-off of the mad cow scare that is alarming one of the Mid-Columbia's biggest industries. Tons of Columbia Basin frozen potato products that were prefried in beef tallow have been delayed as Asian governments and customers have reacted to last week's announcement that a cow slaughtered in Mabton had the disease. At risk is part of an export...

Cash cows This story was published Tuesday, December 30th, 2003 By Anna King, Herald staff writer WALLA WALLA -- Cattle farmer Joel Huesby says he's not worried about mad cow disease. In fact, he's increasing his herd's size exponentially because of it. This past year, Huesby's family's business, Thundering Hooves, raised and sold 40 pasture-finished beef cattle. But since the mad cow disease scare, Huesby has seen a dramatic increase in orders for 2004. Because of that, he's decided to boost his herd to 200 to 300 head and open a processing and retail outlet in downtown Walla Walla. "Oh...

WASHINGTON -- Agriculture officials said Thursday they have received preliminary independent confirmation that the United States has its first case of mad cow disease as federal investigators labored to trace the path the infected cow took from birth to slaughter. Scientists at the Veterinary Laboratories Agency in Waybridge, England, concur with the reading of tests on the stricken Holstein cow that led U.S. officials to conclude the cow had the brain-wasting disease, said U.S. Agriculture Department spokeswoman Alisa Harrison. "We are considering this confirmation," Harrison said, adding the English lab still will conduct its own test using another sample from...

Fears that a bit of tainted tissue might slip into ground meat or contaminate inviting-looking cuts of prime beef have made some consumers jittery and threatened U.S. beef exports. Major supermarkets in Oregon stopped selling ground beef from certain suppliers and asked consumers to voluntarily return ground beef products. From shoppers checking labels to cattle ranchers trying to quell fears about mad cow disease, Oregonians reacted Wednesday to the first known case of the disease in the United States: Oregon agriculture officials waited for further instructions from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and prepared to spend Christmas dealing with the...

MABTON, Wash. - Residents of this tiny south central Washington town rallied around neighboring dairy owners as news leaked that a local farm was the source of what could be the nation's first case of mad cow disease. There are about eight dairy farms in Mabton _ population 2,045 _ and dozens more in the surrounding area. A government source familiar with the investigation told The Associated Press that the cow came from Sunny Dene Ranch in Mabton. Mayor David Conradt said he did not expect "any financial hit" to the town, as long as the disease is limited to...

LONDON - Fears about a suspected U.S. case of mad cow disease spread quickly abroad Wednesday, with 10 countries blocking the import of American beef after a cow in Washington state tested positive for the illness. Japan, the world's top importer of U.S. beef in terms of value, imposed an indefinite ban and planned to recall certain meat products already on the market, while South Korea halted customs inspections of American beef and suspended sales for meat already on supermarket shelves. Mexico, Russia, Brazil, Australia, Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia also banned the imports, as did the Chinese territory of...

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Inspections for Mad Cow Lag Those Done Abroad By MARIAN BURROS and DONALD G. McNEIL Jr. In discussing the case of mad cow disease apparently found in Washington State, Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman said yesterday that her department had tested 20,526 cattle for mad cow disease last year. But that is only a small percentage of the 35 million commercially slaughtered each year. Because no domestic cases of mad cow disease have been found before, the United States has never put in place the kind of stringent testing done in Japan and some European countries, where every animal is...

SEATTLE, Dec 23 (Reuters) - Meat from a cow with the deadly mad cow disease may have already been eaten, possibly in the form of hamburger, Washington State Deputy Director of Agriculture Bill Brookerson said on Tuesday. Asked at a press conference if it was possible that the meat had already been consumed, Brookerson replied: "It's possible."

Japan halts US beef importsFrom correspondents in TokyoDecember 24, 2003JAPAN has temporarily banned the import of American beef after the US reported its first suspected case of mad cow disease, an official said today. "We are now withholding the issuance of import permits" on US beef, said Japanese agriculture ministry spokesman Hiroaki Ogura. "That means for now, (beef) imports have been banned." He said the measure enacted early this morning was temporary until further information could be gathered. US Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman announced that a cow from Washington state had tested positive for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad...

<p>WASHINGTON — The first suspected case of mad cow disease (search) in the United States has been discovered in Washington state, but officials took immediate action Tuesday to ensure the safety of American beef.</p> <p>"We remain confident in the safety of our food supply," Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman told a hastily assembled news conference.</p>

News Plan for using US blood sparks new fear     Aug 17 2002   By Amanda Crook, The Journal   The Government was last night forced to defend its plans to use plasma from America for young children as a precaution against the human form of mad cow disease.Blood safety campaigners - whose relatives were infected with HIV and hepatitis from US blood products - say they are worried by the announcement and have little confidence in Department of Health assurances.The product is intended for children born after 1995 as they would not have been exposed to BSE...