The beef with beef

[Achilleez]

If that cow turns out to be Canadian and the border for beef closes again, you probably won't here from me again as I'll have to sell the computer to feed my family

 

Perhaps an abstract thread, but very relevant to me none the less.

 

Please eat my cows!(This message has been edited by Achilleez)

[OldGreyEagle]

 

(This message has been edited by OldGreyEagle)

[KoreaScouter]

There's other fallout from this mad cow thing. I was a blood donor all my adult life, and with a rare (and universal) blood type, I was in high demand as a donor. However, since I lived in Europe between 1993 and 1996 (mad cow gestation period), I am disqualified for life from donating blood. Thousands more like me, too.

 

While we're at it, what are the cows mad about anyway? I had a cow pasture right next to my house in the Netherlands, and they always seemed so serene, without a care in the world...

 

KS

[Eamonn]

How would you feel if you were a cow and so many of your relatives were living in the US and never phoned home or send word how things were going.

Of course European cows might have had a taste of what passes for cheese over here that is enough to make any full blooded Guernsey or Hereford a bit out of sorts.

Eamonn

[Twocubdad]

Remember the good old days when cows were known for being contented?

 

I did my part at dinner tonight!

[txscoutdad]

Achilleez,

I'm still eating beef but I am boycotting green onions since 500 people have been infected with the hepatitis A virus and three people have died in the US. Lets see.... how many people have contacted mad cow disease in the World, 153 with one being in the US. Might be a bad way to go, but there are a lot of other greater risks.

Curtis

[Achilleez]

What befuddles me is how someone contracts it. I mean it only exists in the brain and possibly the spine, parts of the cow I do not regularly indulge in.

[Fat Old Guy]

I'm really confused by this whole. If there are mad cows running around, why doesn't the government simply get an animal psychologist to interview these angry cows, find out what's bothering them and help them work out their problems?

[Adrianvs]

I read somewhere that there haven't been any scientific investigations describing how this disease is actually transmitted to humans from cows. Furthermore, it seems that the notion that this is spread by eating meat is mere speculation; there may be a third factor causing both (different) diseases in cows and humans.

 

Oo..here's something:

 

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Mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), is a fatal brain disorder that occurs in cattle and is caused by some unknown agent. In BSE, the unknown agent causes the cow's brain cells to die, forming sponge-like holes in the brain. The cow behaves strangely and eventually dies. The connection between BSE and humans was uncovered in Great Britain in the 1990s when several young people died of a human brain disorder, a new variation of a rare brain disorder called Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD), which typically strikes elderly people. The new variation was called new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (nvCJD), was similar to BSE and its connection to BSE was based on the following findings:

 

*The nvCJD victims had lived in areas where outbreaks of BSE had occurred in cattle years earlier. No victims were found in areas without BSE outbreaks.

 

*The brains of nvCJD victims had proteins called prions (pronounced "pree-ahnz") that were similar to those from the brains of BSE-infected cows, but different from those found in victims of classic CJD.

 

*The time between the BSE outbreaks and the deaths of the victims was similar to the time that it takes for Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease to develop.

 

*Brain tissue from BSE-infected cows caused experimental animals to develop symptoms and brain tissue disorders similar to those of the nvCJD victims.

 

The British government concluded that BSE was probably the cause of nvCJD, and that the victims contracted the disease probably by eating meat from BSE-infected cows.

 

 

BSE is spread by contact with brain or other nervous-system tissue from an infected individual. Contact can be from eating food or food by-products that have been contaminated with nervous tissue, or from instruments that have contacted diseased nervous tissue. Once the infectious agent enters the brain, it can lie dormant for several years (even as long as 10 to 15 years). When activated, the agent kills brain cells, leaving large areas of spongy holes. Also, large clumps of abnormal prion proteins (plaques) are found in brain cells. Once the agent is activated, the disease runs its course in less than one year, and ultimately results in death.

We don't know the agent that causes BSE, but we do know the following:

 

*The agent must be small - The agent's size must be as small or smaller than a virus.

 

*You can't kill it by cooking or freezing - Much higher temperatures than those used in cooking or sterilizing are required to kill it.

 

*Disinfectants don't work - Normal chemicals that you would use to disinfect surfaces for bacteria and viruses (Lysol, Betadine) are not effective.

 

*It does not appear to have genetic information (nucleic acids) - This finding has been questioned.

 

Research into BSE and similar diseases (nvCJD, CJD, scrapie) have provided three theories about the agent that causes BSE. These theories lead us to believe that it is:

 

*An unidentified virus or virus-like particle - Although the size of the agent is right, the resistance to heat and chemicals, as well as the absence of any nucleic acids, would make it unlike any known virus.

 

*A mobile bacterium (Spiroplasma) - Many of the features of Spiroplasma infections are similar to BSE, but there is no direct evidence to tie it to BSE.

 

*An abnormal protein (prion) - Abnormal prions are found throughout the brains of BSE-infected cows, nvCJD victims, CJD victims and scrapie-infected sheep. The protein is smaller than a virus and not changed by heat or by disinfectants. This hypothesis is the most prevalent in the media, but goes against many accepted theories of biology.

 

--------------

It seems that the 10-15 year "dormant period" may simply be a stretch to allow more correllations between cases of BSE in cows and cases of nvCJD in humans. A cow dies of BSE and a human dies of nvCJD fifteen years later in the same area. Please tell me that this is replicable in the lab (in less time).. Anyone have more specific information? It seems that we have a lot more loose ends than the media leads us to believe.

[Fat Old Guy]

" Please tell me that this is replicable in the lab (in less time)."

 

Tell you what. . . you can volunteer to eat the brain of an infected cow and report on what happens.

[le Voyageur]

 

 

Well, maybe to a cow, the big M in the "Golden Arches" means Mass Murder. Mayhaps it's a start of a bovine revolution where that M now means Mad Cow...

[Big_Dog]

Now more than ever:

 

"Eet mor chikn"

 

The chick-fil-a bovines would appreciate it!

 

bd(This message has been edited by Big_Dog)

[Adrianvs]

"Tell you what. . . you can volunteer to eat the brain of an infected cow and report on what happens."

 

I would, FOG, but I'm already involved in cancer research which requires me to have tumors implanted into various tissues of my body. Given this, I believe that the results would be compromised.

 

Exactly how fat are you, FOG? I may be able to find some interesting research subject jobs for you if you need the cash..

[Fuzzy Bear]

I asked my wife the other day if a person could actually purchase cow brain or spinal cord at the store for consumption. She said that if a person could buy tongue and intestines, she felt sure the others were on the shelf.

 

The next day I went to work and requested a recipe using brain and spinal cord of cow from my coworkers. Of course, they quickly referred me to the Internet. They said that if a person could get the makings for bombs, then cow brain/cord relish had to be on the menu.

 

I then went to the store and requested a cow brain with a strand of spinal cord because, I wanted to make a special dish that, I felt, would be quite tasty. The butcher asked me if I had gone mad.

 

So, I suppose you can also get it from all of this jabber. FB

 

[acco40]

Brain, while once a delicacy, is rarely purchased anymore in the US. Some "lower scale" hot dogs, sausages, etc. do contain a small amount of brain or spinal cord matter. As the saying goes, you don't want to know what goes into your hot dogs.