Another U.S. herd quarantined . . Another farm has been quarantined

[ConcernedCanuk]

.
.
.

Another U.S. herd quarantined

Jan. 3, 2004. 06:59 PM

YAKIMA, Wash. (AP-CP) — Another farm has been quarantined after authorities located a cow from the same herd as a Holstein stricken with mad cow disease.

And with dozens of cattle from the same herd still missing, more U.S. farms may be isolated in days to come.

At least some cows quarantined since the discovery last month of the Holstein will be destroyed, either because of possible exposure to the infection or to quell public fear, Dr. Ron DeHaven, the Agriculture Department's chief veterinarian, said Friday

/snip/

Another nine cows and a calf born last month to the sick cow are on the Mabton, Wash., dairy farm that was the Holstein's final home. Another calf is on a farm at Sunnyside, Wash., also near Yakima, that raises bull calves.



And the list increases -

makes one wonder how many farms are REALLY affected ?

[madrchsod]

1. eat up boys and girls

those burgers they serve at school lunches are just yummy. and the little cowboy says everything is fine....

[Occulus]

7. Not just burgers

It's everything that's made with/from downer cattle products. Even facial creams.

I've seen and heard a LOT of veggies both here and in other places gloating- yes, gloating- because of this BSE/CJD scare. What they don't realize is that, even though they're veggies, there's nothing about that that will protect them from this.

I'm getting a little sick of it, mostly because veggies all over the place are saying stupidly insensitive things like "it's a GREAT time to be vegetarian!" and other such nonsense. And yes, exactly that was said on another thread on this very board.

Aren't rendered beef products also used in things like vaccines? Garden fertilizer? People who use bone meal in their gardens also appear to be at risk.

Basically, from what I'm learning, if you have ever eaten or ingested beef products of any kind, you are at risk. Reminder: beef products are not just used in foods. Shoot- prions in your bone meal, and a cut on your hand?

Being a Veg won't protect you from that. Sheesh.

[Venomous_Rhetoric]

28. your correct

"I've seen and heard a LOT of veggies both here and in other places gloating- yes, gloating-"

beef is in everything, vaccines, blood products, heart medications,
insulin, even that Jello veggies like for desert after that tofu turkey.
You can get it from a blood transfusion, cornea transplants, etc.

They shouldn't gloat. They should PROTEST and stand with meat eaters about our government screwing up our food supply. Demand testing of ALL cattle,(that will create jobs) and BAN feeding of ALL animal renderings to all animal used for food production. And, ENFORCE IT!(that will create more jobs too)

[kayell]

35. Most vegetarians are not gloating

Most that I know are very concerned. Very few US vegetarians know only other vegetarians. Our relatives, children, spouses, friends, coworkers are often meat eaters.

We also are often well informed about the amount of animal by products that are found in all kinds of things we use everyday. Strict vegetarians do a fair amount of research to avoid animal products that are wide spread in this country.

Here is an example of veg concern about BSE. http://www.vegsource.com/ This site has been running articles on BSE for years. I think that if you do a little research that you will find that most protest organizations about the meat industry in this country are full of vegetarians, and have been since long before this December.

[coda]

33. Yep, gummi-anything,

for instance.

[NIGHT TRIPPER]

41. upset with vegetarians?

what's the problem-(?)
define gloating-
If some people make the right choices intuitively they have every right to say things like "a great time to be a vegetarian".--it is--
Many people have seen this coming for years and lived their lives accordingly.
Not to mention the empathy and compassion for animals that's shared by many Vegetarian/Vegans that's beyond many people's comprehension.(the idea that animals have feelings and deserve respect)
I realize that some people just don't understand that "feeling" --

I don't insist you feel any certain way-

A vegan that has no friends or family that are meat eaters is a unfortunately a "rare" (pardon the pun) situation.

Let everyone joke as much as they want-We all know that this is serious-
Half the population could actually be wiped out because dim-witted corrupt money hoarders can't take necessary precautions, they don't even follow the feed laws.-half the content of the feed is cow blood-
Talk about blatant disregard for safety!
Anyone held responsible?
or just blame it on Canada?


do what you will--that's your right-
BUT DON't GIVE Vegans no "Lip" (or hoof)about what we eat-



.

[Bozola]

2. I wish Ashcroft would hurry up and catch

those Canadian Biowarfare Ninja Anti-Rustlers before they plant Prion-WMD tainted cattle in our pristine herds.

Damn Commies; Hockey has made 'em all soft in the head.

[Venomous_Rhetoric]

27. HA!

Did you know Canada has been exporting cattle to the USA at a rate of 1.7 MILLION cows a year? You Also import over a MILLION from Mexico where they fed even MORE of those rendered cow goodies to their cattle than American ranchers do.

Eat up them burgers boys! yummy. Over the last 10 years, Canada AND the USA have ben making the EXACT same mistakes the UK did, including politicians telling everyone everything is ok, and eating a burger for the camera with their kids.

If things go the same, in 2007 we should start seeing people comming down with vCJD. Then, our governments will start smarting up, and testing ALL cattle, and discovering that millions of cows are infected. Of course, the beef industry will be totaly destroyed by then, all because our governments were TOO FUCKIN STUPID to learn the same lesson the Brits did.
The up side? New governments after that.

[shanti]

3. it's sure not stopping many many americans

from eating their goddam beef! in-n-out burgers, stuart anderson's et al, had packed parking lots tonite here in california.

i had thai rice noodles with tofu myself :D

[Corgigal]

4. Well it's stopping one family

mine since I feel like if I purchase the wrong package my family might suffer because of it. I've been to the grocery store 3 times since this story has broken and only once have I seen anyone near the beef. That may not be anything big because the grocery store would only know for certain if I am correct. Just the fact that I'm watching must mean lots of people all over the nation are doing the same.

[shanti]

5. this is true

at the grocery stores. i also have seen that many aren't buying beef at the stores. but they are still going out to eat it (as if it makes a difference). that's even worse, imo, because we have absolutely no idea where restaurants buy their beef!

[0007]

11. It appears many aren't buying as much meat these days.

I avoid the common restaurants like the plague. Only vegetarian restaurants do I patronize.

[Venomous_Rhetoric]

30. oops

see post below

[Unforgiven]

14. Ditto

Threw out what little was in the freezer as well, boycotting beef here.

[Venomous_Rhetoric]

31. shop

They all get their meat from wholesalers, who get it from the slaughterhouses.
If you want, try organic meat sellers, there should be some in your area. And don't worry TOO much, if you did buy and eat some of that meat , it was mixed with the meat of 19 other cows, so it isn't likely you ate enough to catch it.
Your more at risk of you eat things like liver, tounge, brains, intestines, the stuff they put in meat pies and hotdogs.
They say the infectability of muscle meat itself is low or nil.

Try this link to find an ORGANIC meat supply store near you.
All organic farmers that are part of this organization are certified and inspected.
http://organicconsumers.org/madcow.htm

Here is a more direct link to find organic farmers/suppliers near you http://www.organicconsumers.org/purelink.html

[Occulus]

8. Stop gloating, please.

It doesn't really matter if you're a vegetarian now, but weren't before. You're already at risk, regardless of eating or not eating beef.

Once prions get into your system, becoming vegetarian will do you no good at all. It's a bit like uneducated people in South Africa telling you if you have HIV and have sex with a virgin it'll cure you.

I'm not going to stop eating beef because I'm assuming I'm already infected with prions. The damage is already done; becoming a vegetarian now is closing the doors after the horses are gone.

[Unforgiven]

15. Yea,But

We can make a social statement of sorts by refusing to buy it. And maybe an economic one as well.

[screembloodymurder]

16. Nobody is gloating

meatman.

[Malva Zebrina]

17. Yup , I keep eating the beef that is nin my freezer

because I have alreadly eaten it since I bought it in bulk intending to have it last at least three or four months. LOL It is that funny?

I am certain I will buy beef from an certified, field grazed organic type of a beef producer--even contemplating buying off the hoof,although that may cost a few hundred dollars-- a half of a cow, slaughtered by humane applications, and a cow that has been oragnically raised and that has grazed on the grasses in the field =that is on field grazing and forage and not on feed provided by some rotten , greed driven, corporate agriculturist corporate beef producer whose greed causes him to let his fellow man be vulnerable even unto death, becuase of his policies of feeding the herd the rotten, disease ridden corpses of downed cattle.

You know, folks, we are only human beings. We are in this all together. Those who are driving us and our food supply are non feeling, non c aring, corporate, greedy and without morals, people.


We do NOT need them and we do NOT need to follow what they tell us about out health as far as our food supply goes.


If I could, I would raise my own beef--as it is , I have learned that there are several places here in Maine, where I can confidently buy my beef amnd feel good about that.

they do NOT feed their herd the feed that has been infected with the bones and the remains of cattle that have gone down, shaking and quaking with mad cow disease.


I think that the revolution that will not be televised is the one where people decide they need to buyu a piece of land, grow their own produce, and their beef , or pork, or lamb or chikens and all of their veggies as was done in the "ole times"

and or their wild game=and have their own food be safe enough to feed their children and themself!!

Buy some land you younguns==take your family there and provide for them and grow your own. Be independant, informed and at the end know that you have done your very best to resist the assholes who would have you die because of a political consideration over your own humanity.

It is the ultimate in sticking it to the corporations who are attempting to run our lives- in what we ear and it what we wear and in what we think!

[shanti]

19. thank you!

buying CERTIFIED, ORGANIC, RANGEFED beef is the ONLY alternative besides not eating beef at all, if you still wish to eat it.

[Occulus]

24. And has every speck of beef you've ever eaten

been organically grown? What about facial creams? Bone meal for your plants? Envelope glue?

I thought not.

You're at risk, even if you eat organically grown beef, because you haven't done so from the moment you started eating beef.

Yes, it really is that bad. You would have had to have eaten nothing but organically grown meat from the very first time you ever ate meat to be safe from this. I honestly wouldn't bet on being safe even if that were the case.

People, this is MUCH more serious than even we know. I have a source close to the industry, and he's telling me this has been an issue for decades.

Decades. Think about that. How long have you been eating organically grown meat? A few years? Too bad- you've likely been exposed already. Eating organically grown meat, or going veggie, will do you NO good now.

I know that people will be in De Nial for a long time over this. I know a LOT of Veggies will be soooo upset that their decision did them no good at all. But it's the truth.

If you've ever eaten beef here in the US, you are at risk for CJD.

Prions don't go away. They can't be cured or removed. They are always fatal (although, to be fair, there are some who appear to be resistant to them), and there isn't even a treatment.

We should ALL be fucking scared as hell over this. Problem is, the damage has already been done. Going Veggie now is simply too little, too late.

Once you're infected with prions, there's no going back.

[Occulus]

23. You TOTALLY missed my point.

The point was, if you've ever eaten beef, you are at risk. It doesn't matter at this point is you give up beef- chances are you've already consumed contaminated meat. Even if you've never, ever consumed meat of any kind, from infancy, you're at risk.

Beef tallow, you see, is used in glue. You've licked envelopes, and you can ingest prions that way, too.

Think of bone meal. If you're a gardener, you've likely used bone meal when planting/fertilizing. Got a cut on your hand? You may have just gotten some prions with your salad seed.

Wear cosmetics? Beef by-products are present in many facial creams.

You'd have to be a paranoid fool to avoid this, and you'd still be at risk. That's my point.... it doesn't matter if you resolve to never eat beef again; it's simply too little, too late.

[Venomous_Rhetoric]

34. Thats the attitude!

Thats what we need, people like you to help people like Me fight back and take back the farm, do it right!
http://www.organicconsumers.org/purelink.html

[shanti]

18. oh i get it

so fuck it and just keep on eating the beef....yeah, that's the ticket. if it takes punishing the beef industry to get them to STOP, i will STOP eating beef!

i might as well kill myself now.../sarcasm

[Unforgiven]

20. Precisely

my point as well. If it will work, and it will if the consumer base mandates it through boycotting

[Occulus]

25. Well, basically,

yes.

Look, I have some inside info on this. It's been a known issue for decades, but the beef industry lobby has always pushed it under the rug.

It's a very safe assumption that anyone in the US who eats beef has consumed contaminated meat. A very safe assumption.

There is nothing that can be done once prions are in your system. Think of it as having HIV only, and you're having unprotected sex with other people who also have HIV only. Is there any sense in using a condom at that point, given that the people you're having sex with have only HIV?

It's a little bit like that. It's senseless to avoid prions when they're already in your system. The flip of that is that it's currently impossible to tell if they're present short of looking at the questionable brain tissue with an electron microscope.

That's one expensive biopsy, folks.

Another scary thought: CJD can jump the placental barrier.

What a cheery thought to end the night with.

[Venomous_Rhetoric]

36. IT was discovered

back in 1964, when mink became infected (tme) in Minn. And Wisconson,

Dr.Marsh I believe. He knew that we had a BSE problem started way back then, 40 YEARS ago. Your right, the cattle industry has kept it quiet.

[shanti]

39. you conveniently skipped over part of my post

i SAID, i will cease to eat beef to PUNISH THE BEEF INDUSTRY! got it?it may be too late for US, but it's not too late for them to get theirs!

[Occulus]

43. The only appropriate punishment

is to revoke corporate personhood so we can cancel the charters of agribusinesses that feed downer cattle to healthy cattle. Unfortunately, this will not happen.

Per regulations, the state of Wisconsin is unable to tell the public where the beef went because it might harm the industry. Corporate personhood at work.

Punishing the beef industry will do no good at this point. Instead, it needs to be taken over and regulated against its will. That's the only thing that can be done.

[NIGHT TRIPPER]

42. eat what thou wilt-that shall be the whole of the law

but isn't it a bit careless?

You mentioned HIV-
Do you also have unsafe sex with AIDS out there?
Do you?
No-
not unless you are really arrogant and out of touch enough to think nothing is going to hurt "you"--only other people-
but you say:
I'm assuming I'm already infected with prions. The damage is already done;
hey, don't go thinking you've been exposed unless you have symptoms.
The future may be bright.
It's never too late to stop a dangerous thing.

[0007]

10. Love tofu! The art is in learning how to use it.

Hated tofu at first. Many other great soybean products out there.

[Terwilliger]

I'm still eating beef

I also don't cower in my closet waiting for the next terrorist attack.

[Terwilliger]

12. du

pe

[Venomous_Rhetoric]

29. I'm a meat eater

But I'm not going to eat the stuff until it is all tested,and they completely ban feeding rendered animal bits to cattle, and ALL animals for that matter. I haven't since last may when the Canadian cow was found.

I raise organic pigs, so I have a good safe meat supply. And when I'm sick of that, there are good organic chickens and turkeys. Tofu? Yuck! won't touch the stuff, but my pigs do....

[cliss]

6. I think there are many, many

more cows carrying this disease. Either inspectors haven't caught up with them, or they're going under the wire because they get slaughtered before they're 4 years old. Apparently the disease needs an incubation time of 4 or more years to manifest itself (?).

Conclusion: no meat is safe, at least right now. Especially in the Pacific Northwest where we live. I believe the inspectors are going to be more careful inspecting cows or meat that's been recently slaughtered.

But what about meat that's laying in the meat departments, or those gross sides of beef you see hanging in some restaurants? They're not going to bother with those. "Too late", they'll say.

Also, there's probably a lot of beef sitting in freezers which might be tainted.

[Occulus]

9. This has likely been present for decades.

That's why I'm getting ticked at veggies all of a sudden.

I'll spell it out:

If you have ever eaten beef or have ever consumed any beef by-products, food or non-food, you are at risk, vegetarian or not.

I really, really wish vegetarians would drop that holier-than-thou attitude they ALL seem to have re this issue toward people who eat meat. This affects them just as much. In fact, it may affect them more, because lots and lots of vegetarians inexplicably seem to believe they are protected somehow because they "don't eat meat".

Fine, good, go for it. Except that rendered beef products are used for much, much more than food.

Vegetarianism is no protection against this. These people need to pull their heads out of the sand.

[kayell]

32. While it is possible that a vegetarian could have been exposed in the past

it is also true that they have significantly reduced their risk from the time that they became vegetarians. To say otherwise is equivalent to tell smokers they might as well not quit, since they are already at risk of getting lung cancer.

While vegetarians who unknowingly use rendered meat products are at some risk, it is still MUCH less than if they were eating meat, because the level of possible exposure is less. It is also quite possible to avoid most animal by products. Lists can be found here - http://animal-ingredients.hypermart.net/ If you are unsure of a products ingredients, look for products labeled as containing only vegetable products, or as suitable for vegans. Especially avoid animal products that can be consumed, such as lipsticks, lotions, food additives.

While I agree that the problem is much larger than we are led to believe (20,000 cattle tested for BSE out of 37,500,000 slaughtered), you are making some very false assumptions to come to the conclusion that everyone is doomed anyway, so might as well eat burger.

False assumption 1. Virtually all beef in US is infected with BSE. Theoretical possible because of short lifespan of meat animals versus visible disease, but also astronomically unlikely.

False assumption 2. Risk level is equal for people who consume huge amounts of beef and for people who consume very tiny amounts.

False assumption 3. Everyone exposed to BSE develops VCJD. Clearly not true or there would have been far more deaths in England where the disease has had time to manifest.

It seems unethical to me to tell people that they are already doomed, therefor might as well have some more barbecue before they die, when the reality is that overall risk is significantly reduced by changing eating and consumption habits.

[Occulus]

44. Overestimate this risk.

Do ALL people exposed die from CJD? We don't know. It's still an open question; the incubation period in humans is so long that it's plain silly to say even that this "might not" be of epidemic proportions.

The only "safe" thing to assume is that all cattle are indeed infected- even though that's patently not the case.

Why do your "false assumptions" smack of beef industry propaganda? This is not anything to pooh-pooh about.

Seems to me that it's far more unethical to seduce people into thinking the risk is smaller than it might be. And the fact is that your "false assumptions" are unproven, as are mine; since this is only now being seriously looked at, nothing can be said with any degree of certainty.

I'd rather people err on the side of caution than think the risk is smaller than it actually may be. And yes, it really is that serious. The head of the Dept. of Agriculture here in MI is scared shitless over this.

While the risk of contracting CJD is small now, I'm more concerned about those of us who have eaten beef all our lives without knowing anything about this. Since it's been present in the US for decades, we can safely assume that quite a large number of us have been exposed.

[kayell]

46. I think you have misunderstood my comments

I am a vegetarian and intend to stay one. I believe that BSE is very serious and that we are not being well served by government agencies who are supposed to both promote meat industry AND protect human health. I assume that a certain percentage of the animal food supply in this country is infected, and that testing onlyy 20,000 cattle a year out of 37,500,000 means that other infected cattle have almost certainly made it into the food supply.

I am NOT the person recommending that people continue to eat beef because we are all already infected. That would be you....

[bobthedrummer]

45. But now vegetarians have to contend with GM produce

even staples like corn, potatoes, wheat, rice etc. We all have reason to be concerned with our food supply and this has been an ongoing problem all my 54 years.
IMO there are many downer animals harvested and have been historically.

[Occulus]

26. I know you're right.

[reprobate]

13. We must listen to "Little Boots". He knows it was Saddam all along.

Finally we have proof that * was right, it was saddams WMD programs that infected our good all american beef.

If we had just believed the lies as he told them, we'd be ok now. But no, some of us simply won't believe what the Maximum Leader tells us. Why? Surely he has our best interests first in mind. After all, the Extreme Court appointed him, so he must be what the country needs at this important crossroads in history.

[Malva Zebrina]

21. Oh for crying out loud

my grandmother lived to be 103 years old. I am not kidding. She only was put into a managed care facility at the age of 102!! up until then, she got along quite nicely, althoug her daughter, my aunt, did take her in and watch over for many years.

And she smoked cigarettes too!! And was in the habit of having a "cocktail" every night, which in those times meant a "highball" or a shot or two of whiskey put into some gingerale or some other mixer.

She was NOT on any medications either and thought it was funny when she had to go to the emergency room when she "felt dizzy"

She was a beautiful woman who came here from the County Cork, Ireland as a young, eighteen year old, attractive and intelligent woman.

She was so beatiful and I think that many of us have the same sort of a story to tell.

[anarchy1999]

22. This is an important issue!

Go to google and enter in John Stauber and Mad Cow. To hell with all of us, what about our kids? When are we going to stand up and just say NO!? What about our kids?

Just this on the first page:
Mad Cow USA
... In a first-rate piece of investigative journalism, Rampton and Stauber piece together
the best synthesis of the problem I've seen. Mad Cow USA is an important ...
www.prwatch.org/books/madcow.html - 15k - Cached - Similar pages

CNN.com - First apparent US case of mad cow disease discovered ...
... an invisible iceberg.". "There are more cases, no doubt about it,"
said John Stauber, author of Mad Cow, USA. Accusing Veneman of ...
www.cnn.com/2003/US/12/23/mad.cow/ - 44k - Cached - Similar pages

Amazon.com: Books: Mad Cow USA: Could the Nightmare Happen Here?
Mad Cow USA: Could the Nightmare Happen Here?, Sheldon
Rampton, John C. Stauber, (John Clyde). ...
www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/ detail/-/1567511112?v=glance - 69k - Cached - Similar pages

Opinion: Doug Moe: Mad cow book selling like mad (captimes.com)
... Just last August, in an interview with Chicago Life magazine, Stauber
said mad cow disease in the United States was imminent. "The ...
www.madison.com/captimes/news/moe2/64015.php - 19k - Cached - Similar pages

John Stauber:Mad Cow USA--The Nightmare Begins
OCA Homepage. John Stauber:Mad Cow USA--The Nightmare Begins. Mad
Cow USA: The Nightmare Begins John Stauber December 30, 2003 http ...
www.organicconsumers.org/madcow/stauber123103.cfm - 26k - Cached - Similar pages

Interview With John Stauber
... Good morning, sir. JOHN STAUBER, AUTHOR, "MAD COW USA": Good morning. ... GUPTA: John
Stauber, author of "Mad Cow USA," thanks for getting up with us this morning. ...
www.organicconsumers.org/madcow/stauber122603.cfm - 16k - Cached - Similar pages
< More results from www.organicconsumers.org >

TOMPAINE.com - Mad Cow Out Of The Barn
... At every turn, Veneman has been "extremely disingenuous," according to Madisonian
John Stauber, co-author of Mad Cow USA."My presumption," he says, "is that ...
www.tompaine.com/feature2.cfm/ID/9663 - 23k - Cached - Similar pages

Under the Covers: Mad Cow USA by Stauber and Rampton
MAD COW USA: COULD THE NIGHTMARE HAPPEN HERE? by John Stauber and Sheldon Rampton
Common Courage September 1997; $24.95 246 pp; ISBN 1-56751-111-2. ...
www.silcom.com/~manatee/stauber_mad.html - 3k - Cached - Similar pages

DenverPost.com - LOCAL NEWS
... Further, the suggestion that this is a unique, isolated case of mad
cow from Canada is preposterous, Stauber said. "The FDA said ...
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The Reporter - Mad cow disease expert says precautions may be too ...
... We have not taken this disease seriously,” John C. Stauber, author
of “Mad Cow USA,” said in a telephone interview on Friday. ...
www.wisinfo.com/thereporter/news/ archive/local_13891777.shtml - 47k - Cached - Similar pages

[R Hickey]

37. Ashcroft would rather test children for pot than test mad cows for prions

Our beef industry is done until this administration is gone.

[Venomous_Rhetoric]

38. early vCJD cover-up?

According to Scientific American, Chronic Wasting Disease was detected in North American deer long before the first British cattle were diagnosed with BSE - near Fort Collins, in Colorado, in 1967.

Between 1970 and 1981, more than 90 per cent of the mule deer around Fort Collins died; in 1980, the disorder appeared at Sybille in south-east Wyoming, 120km to the north -- five years earlier, in 1977, a young PhD student at the University of Colorado, Elizabeth Williams, had found an important clue when she took brain tissue samples from dead deer at Ford Collins, and observed it had the same spongy appearance as brain tissue from scrapie-affected sheep.

It now seems that, like BSE in Britain, CWD actually originated as scrapie had in sheep. Research showed that the scrapie and CWD prion molecules were identical. Moreover, elk injected with scrapie-infected tissue from sheep developed symptoms identical to CWD.

BUT how scrapie prions found their way into a deer remains a mystery.
(why? deer walk in sheep pastures all the time!)

Whatever the origins of the outbreak, disaster ensued: CWD found its way into wild deer and elk populations, probably via contact between captive and wild elk and deer that licked each other's saliva in greeting through wire enclosures at research facilities. CWD is now found in elk and deer in 12 US states and two adjacent Canadian provinces.
The disease has now become permanently established across an area of more than 40,000 sq km of North America's interior. About 4-5 per cent of wild deer and elk are infected, but the incidence reaches 18 per cent in some areas.

It's not known whether CWD can be transmitted to humans who have eaten contaminated venison, but given that millions of Americans hunt deer for sport, and occasionally (occasionally???) consume wild venison, research is urgently trying to establish whether such a risk is real. (there would be ALOT of human cases if it was transmitted to humans!)

Only a few prion molecules are required to initiate the conversion process. But the most worrying evidence that humans are at risk is that there have been three cases of "sporadic" CJD in the US since 1990 -- all involving people under 30. (It's cVJD that attacks younger people!!! you get that from BSE!!)

The first to die, in 1997, was a 28-year old woman who had frequently eaten deer and elk venison as a child. A 30 year-old man who was a regular deer hunter and venison consumer died in 1999, and a 27-year old truck driver who died in 2000 was also a hunter. (blame it on hunting?

THERE is also a concern that cattle could be infected by contact with carcasses of wild deer and elk that have died of the disease, or by eating pastures contaminated by saliva or urine from infected elk and deer. (making excuses?)

In a 1997 experiment, US researchers injected extracts from the brains of CWD-infected mule deer into the brains of 14 beef calves. Two became ill with "BSE-like symptoms" (not quite the same though!!) two years later, and another three developed symptoms last year. The same research team has now begun feeding calves a diet containing contaminated brain tissue from deer and elk, to see if the disease can be transmitted through diet.

Does anyone smell a cover up?

[kayell]

40. I expect the USDA to announce that those deer and elk wandered down from

Canada!