Government probes another possible mad-cow case

[norml]

July 27, 2005, 2:11PM

Government probes another possible mad-cow case
By LIBBY QUAID
Associated Press


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• Releasing mad-cow test results debated
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RESOURCES

AP file
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns tours a Utah beef processing plant in May.


Video:
Mad cow found in U.S. cow from Texas 6/24

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Multimedia:
• The connection between mad cow disease and humans
(Requires Flash plug-in)

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Phone hot lines:
• USDA meat and poultry hot line: 1-888-674-6854
• Regular updates at 1-866-4USDACO.

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Other:
• USDA news release on BSE finding 6/24
• Active USDA meat recalls
• Overview of the disease

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Video courtesy Associated Press. (Free Real Player required.)

WASHINGTON — The government is investigating another possible case of mad cow disease, an Agriculture Department official said today.

Testing indicated the presence of the disease in a cow that died on the farm where it lived, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the department had not yet announced the news. The official would not say where the farm was.

The department is conducting further tests and is sending a brain tissue sample to the internationally recognized laboratory in Weybridge, England, the official said.


snip


http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/business/3284703

[whistle]

1. Yo....lots of signs emerging...how many cases of mad-cow ...

...went unreported over the past five years in the U.S. is what I'm wondering.

[kestrel91316]

12. Well if you are only testing DOWNER cows OVER 30 MONTHS OF AGE

you are maybe going to MISS A HELL OF A LOT OF BSE. They didn't catch BSA 5 minutes before they went down. They had it for A LONG TIME and eventually went down. Oh, and BTW, BSE has been documented in a perfectly healthy-looking 21 month old bull calf.

I think we are seeing only the tip of the iceberg. No more non-organic beef for me. Guess that means it's a rare treat only from now on.

The USDA is only pretending to look for BSE, sort of like Bush pretending to look for WMDs when he was at that meeting and he tried to joke about it. Not here........nope, not here either.........not under there either.

[unhappycamper]

2. Possible Case of Mad Cow Investigated (# 3 ????)

Possible Case of Mad Cow Investigated
By LIBBY QUAID, Associated Press Writer 24 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - The government is investigating another possible case of mad cow disease, an Agriculture Department official said Wednesday.

Testing indicated the presence of the disease in a cow that died on the farm where it lived, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the department had not yet announced the news. The official would not say where the farm was.

The department is conducting further tests and is sending a brain tissue sample to the internationally recognized laboratory in Weybridge, England, the official said.

NO MORE
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050727/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/mad_cow_2

[DURHAM D]

3. We never heard the followup on COW #2 did we ? eom

[kestrel91316]

13. Nope. It was positive, and I think there was a rumor it was from TX, but

no confirmation.

Anybody want to lay odds this newest case came from the same state as #2???? Maybe even the same herd???

When the hell are they going to look for the source of the infection??

[not fooled]

21. So that explains the chimpster shithead...

...* obviously ate too many burgers in Texas.

"Anybody want to lay odds this newest case came from the same state as #2"

[warrens]

11. Libby Quaid is one of the few reporters who knows this subject

She's doing really good work on mad cow and the USDA. There are a couple of Canadian writers who are doing good work too. I don't think the people at USDA or the large meat companies enjoy hearing "Libby Quaid on Line 2"...

[WhiteTara]

4. US probing 'possible' new madcow case

WASHINGTON (AFP) — The US Department of Agriculture said it is investigating a "possible" new case of madcow disease in the United States.

Additional tests are being performed on the US-born and raised animal, John Clifford, the department's chief veterinarian, told reporters in a conference call.

If confirmed, the case would be the third case of a bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE)- stricken cow discovered in United States.

only a bit more to the article

http://www.keepmedia.com/pubs/AFP/2005/07/27/946559?oliID=151

:scared:

[lynettebro440]

5. One of the reasons

I gave up red meat.

[WhiteTara]

6. good for you

and it will probably be one of the reasons you will be around to watch chimpy shot on the wh lawn for treason. Welcome to DU lynetterbro440 :hi:

[CountAllVotes]

7. yeah same here

I was never a big lover of beef anyway. The food chain is CONTAMINATED! This is very real. I wish people would wake-up! The are only testing 1 in every 40,000 cattle slaughered supposedly. That means it is probably 1 in 100,000.

You cannot trust these people. You know they wouldn't tell you the truth.

Red meat isn't really that good for you anyway and who need to die of this awful brain disease? :scared: is right!

:kick:

[Kraklen]

8. That's why I buy organic beef.

[Eurobabe]

9. ditto, organic meat and dairy is the way to go

tastes better too. and without all the shit added...hormones, antibiotics, etc.

[warrens]

10. Pretty soon you will be able to buy organic everywhere

Costco and Trader Joe's, two real blue companies, are adding organic beef programs. What you need, though, is just verifiable grass and corn fed beef, no antibiotics, no commercial feed (which is loaded with blood, ground up bones, spinal tissue, etc., plus ground up chickenshit which in turn may have prions from cattle in it). Organic is still a meaningless term, and big business is fighting to keep it that way.

Sometimes, animals DO need medicine, so antibiotics aren't all bad. They use them way too much, along with growth hormones, to make them fatten up faster.

Cattle that have been allowed to feed in pastures half the year are slightly chewier and have less fat, but they taste just fine. The industry has made a virtue out of hyper-tenderness at the expense of flavor and real texture.

It is unbelievable that this veterinarian waited three months to send in that brain, and that he used preservatives on it, which means that it is much, much harder to test. And USDA only outlawed preservatives LAST FREAKING MONTH after being told for years that it was in effect covering up mad cow. The IHC test is highly unreliable. Which is why USDA liked to use it instead of the far better Western blot test.

This is the second case they fucked up completely. The first one, they did the right thing, but they went into so much shock over the media frenzy, they decided lying, fudging, covering up and attempting to ignore more cases.

I spoke with Tom Harkin's press secretary today, and Harkin is PISSED. I'm talking to Rosa DeLauro tomorrow.

The Bushies have done an admirable job of stomping on USDA and state and local agricultural vets and administrators. They have smeared any USDA inspector who blows the whistle on breakdowns in the detection systems. All because the big guys want the Japanese market back and Bush wants it too.

Mad cow is not really much of a health threat to humans. The Brits developed most of their vCJD cases before they figured out that making cannibals out of herbivores is a REAL BAD IDEA. And the region in England where most of the cases were located, well, they eat some weird stuff. Like scrambled eggs and brains, and sausages made out of the real bad parts, and tongue and so on.

BSE is not present in pure muscle meat. It is found in the nervous system, the brain and spine and portions, like tongue (which is still legal), which have large nerve bundles. And in cheap hamburger, which is scraped off the spine and mixed with fat and is usually found in those gross frozen things that are sold as "ground beef patties with gravy" because they are of too low quality to be called hamburgers.

My objection isn't the threat to health, at least so far, but the lying and deceit. This is just like what is happening at the EPA, where honest scientists are being bullied and if they don't cave to the bullies, their stuff gets rewritten by political operatives.

[CountAllVotes]

22. when you buy "organic" beef

ask them where their bulls are from. See if you get an answer that seems solid. When I asked this question they had no adequate reply. For all I know, the bulls are from some line in the food chain that may well be infected so I don't trust organic beef for this reason or any beef anywhere in the world.

Have you read the book "Deadly Feasts". Scares the hell out of you and btw, I'd stay far away from hamburger no matter what.

You have to think a lot when addressing this problem. :think: "They" don't like this ... people thinking.

:kick:

[norml]

20. I gave up ground beef awhile ago, and I gave up all beef recently.

It's just not worth the risk.

[OnionPatch]

14. What will it take

before they start testing every cow? Ha, never, as long as Republicans rule. Profit over public is the GOP creed.

We've been buying grass-fed beef at Trader Joe's but haven't been able to find it often enough. They told us it just doesn't sell much! Unbelievable. Hormones, pesticides, etc. in the meat are gross enough but freakin' mad cow can KILL you. It's an awful, horrible death, too.

[kestrel91316]

18. They will NEVER test them all because ..........

they know damned well the infection is widespread and MANY cattle with BSE have entered our food supply and the fear and liability issues would literally destroy the cattle industry overnight. I say good riddance to bad rubbish if they can't do a better job of providing clean, unadulterated food.

[lakeguy]

15. ahh, just test it over and over until it comes up negative...

then everything's back to normal, right?

[norml]

26. US mad cow flubs raise safety fears

US mad cow flubs raise safety fears

July 29, 2005


A series of mishaps and confusion over testing for mad cow disease raises questions about the US government's credibility and could undermine efforts to convince major trading partners of the safety of American beef, say industry and consumer groups.

The US Department of Agriculture is now investigating a possible third case of mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, in an animal at least 12 years old.

A brain sample from the suspect cow was taken by a local veterinarian in April. But that was not tested by the USDA until last week. That delay was because the vet ``simply forgot'' to submit it, said the USDA.

The sample was frozen - a violation of USDA guidelines - and the vet also mistakenly used a preservative that limits the type of mad cow tests that can now be conducted.


snip


http://www.thestandard.com.hk/stdn/std/World/GG29Wd08.html

[Digit]

16. What about the burgers at the fast food places?

I don't frequent such places, but am curious.

[astonamous]

17. Meat Byproducts...

I'm afraid of what might be in the meat that is used in fast food joints. They are always trying to cut costs to increase profit. Can you imagine? Scary!!!

[kestrel91316]

19. The ground beef they make hamburgers out of ........

comes from hundreds if not thousands of different cattle and the meat is all mixed together, so it only takes one infected animal to contaminate a whole huge lot, and potentially infect MANY MANY MANY people. Do NOT purchase ground beef or its products. If you want a burger, buy round steak or chuck roast and grind it yourself. Only comes from one animal, much lower risk (also a lot less bacterial contamination).

[CountAllVotes]

23. yeah or better yet

I've found an alternative that I actually LIKE! :D

Amy's makes this type of burger called "Texas style". They are very good and they are made of tofu and have a bunch of very good organic vegan ingredients in them. I can barely tell any difference.

I've tried many believe me, but these are the best ones I've found. Topped with some pepper jack cheese really does the trick! :D

:kick:

[kestrel91316]

24. Ick. No thanks.

[Ilsa]

25. Thanks for the tip. Is it a frozen product?

Or just refrigerated? Tonight I bought my first bacon substitute and some "hamburger" patties. I think they have alot of portabella mushrooms in them along with TVP.

[CountAllVotes]

29. yes they are frozen

In fact, my local store has them on sale right now and I've stocked up on them ($3.25 for a package of four). They go fast around here which is highly unusual as "veggie burgers" aren't very well liked.

They are made by Amy's and they are 100% organic and the are called, "Amy's Texas Style Veggie Burger". They go off sale on Monday. I'm tempted to go buy more today or tomorrow.

Don't ever say that you don't like something until you have tried it (msg. to the person that posted the word "ick"). They really are very good! :D

:kick:

[kestrel91316]

31. Sorry, your tofu burgers just sound too weird to me ...............

I do like Trader Joe's veggie burgers that are made from mushrooms, but I would never confuse them with beef.

I enjoy turkey burgers and don't have to fret about BSE.

[WhiteTara]

33. problem with tofu burgers is that almost

all soybeans are genetically modified organisms. Yikes!

[CountAllVotes]

35. these are all organic

but yes, otherwise you are quite correct. Do not buy tofu that is not labeled ORGANIC because it is likely GMO'd. :(

:kick:

P.S. They really are good! :)

[livinginphotographs]

27. I tried those the other day.

They're pretty good.

[ikri]

28. When the UK had a BSE problem

Why did the US not follow the same procedures that were put in place here? Even the really basic ones like - don't feed dead sheep to live cows, etc.

Whoever was responsible for not putting those safeguards in place back then is wholly responsible for the current BSE problem.

[kestrel91316]

32. The rules have changed ..................

it is no longer legal to feed ground up dead ruminants to live ruminants. But I suspect enforcement is nonexistent and so you don't know what the hell these cows are being fed. Corporate financial profit is powerful incentive to cut corners on expenses.

Also, the dairy calves are still being fed milk replacer with cow's blood as an ingredient (or ingredient precursor). VERY BAD IDEA!!!!!

[MisterP]

34. the conservatives are aligned with the corrupt cattle barons here:

if they want $2-a-head-an-acre-a-year fees, they get it: if they want the National Parks, they get it: if they want the marshes drained and the ESA reamed, they get it

[struggle4progress]

30. kick