Tests show two women died of brain-wasting disease

[norml]

Tests show two women died of brain-wasting disease

By CHRISTOPHER SMITH
Associated Press writer



BOISE, Idaho -- Preliminary tests on the remains of two Idaho women show they died of the brain-wasting illness Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, but additional tests are needed to determine whether it was the naturally occurring form or the variant related to mad cow disease.

Idaho Department of Health and Welfare officials announced the findings Wednesday after notifying the families of the women, one of whom was in her 60s and lived in Twin Falls County and the other who was previously identified by her family as 53-year-old Kathy Isenberg of St. Maries. Because of privacy restrictions, state health officials do not release names of individuals suspected of dying from the disease, which can only be conclusively diagnosed post-mortem.

The results bring to three the number of confirmed deaths this year in Idaho due to diseases related to "prions," or malformed proteins. Earlier this year, tests by the National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center at Case Western University in Ohio determined that another Twin Falls County woman had died from a prion-related disease believed to be Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

Additional tests are under way at the lab to determine what form of CJD was responsible in the three confirmed cases.

"Generally, 85 percent of the tests come back as the sporadic, or naturally occurring form, 14 percent come back as the familial form that is passed down through generations and less than 1 percent come back as the variant form," said Tom Shanahan, spokesman for the Idaho agency. "There's never been a variant case acquired in the United States."


snip


http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2005/10/01/news/regional/9c121aece6ea98198725708a007f8e6c.txt

[norml]

1. NJ Creutzfeldt-Jakob cluster turns suburban mom into crusader

NJ Creutzfeldt-Jakob cluster turns suburban mom into crusader

By LINDA A. JOHNSON
Associated Press Writer

October 2, 2005, 10:53 AM EDT


CINNAMINSON, N.J. -- Janet Skarbek's life was forever altered when she read the obituary of an acquaintance in June 2003.

A 56-year-old woman who had worked with Skarbek's mother at the Garden State Park racetrack near Philadelphia had died of Creutzfeldt-Jakob brain disease, the human version of mad cow disease. Barely three years earlier, a 29-year-old accountant at the Cherry Hill track had died of the same rare, always fatal disease.

Skarbek wondered: How could two of just 100 administrative employees at the track be felled by a neurological disease health officials say kills just one in a million people each year, usually after age 60?

"That's the day it started," she recalled.

Almost overnight, Skarbek changed from suburban mother of two, tax manager and Sunday school teacher into an Erin Brockovich-like crusader fighting to keep mad cow disease from spreading through the U.S. food supply.

Skarbek, 37, began combing obituaries and over time identified 18 people she believes died of CJD from 1993 to 2004 and had eaten regularly at the same restaurant at the now-closed racetrack. She also spotted possible clusters elsewhere or learned of them from loved ones of people whose deaths were classified as sporadic CJD.


snip


http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newjersey/ny-bc-nj--madcowcrusader1002oct02,0,2088131.story?coll=ny-region-apnewjersey

[henslee]

5. Wow. wow, wow, wow, wow, wow. I will read beyond a snip.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

63. There was a really good, in-depth feature story on her

In the NYT magazine about a year back in case you're looking for more.

[leftchick]

13. Excellent article...

Thank you!

<snip>

Skarbek is pushing for a total ban on animals in the human food chain eating blood or body parts from other animals, and she wants doctors nationwide to have to report CJD cases so more victims can be autopsied and more learned about the disease.

Officials at state and federal government agencies, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration, insist the beef supply is safe. They consistently dismiss Skarbek's suspicions that some sporadic CJD cases really are a different strain of variant CJD.

But some university CJD researchers and other scientists say numerous experiments on animals, studies of eating habits of CJD victims and other evidence indicate it's possible Skarbek is right about some food-related CJD cases being misclassified.

"I think it's likely. How likely is very difficult to say," said Dr. Jiri Safar, an associate neurology professor at University of California-San Francisco and former National Institutes of Health researcher.

[norml]

21. Human remains in cattle feed may have caused mad cow epidemic

Human remains in cattle feed may have caused mad cow epidemic
By Nic Fleming, Science Correspondent
(Filed: 02/09/2005)


The original cause of the 1986 BSE crisis has remained unknown

The mad cow disease epidemic could have been caused by the feeding of material containing human remains to cattle, a scientist claimed yesterday.

Alan Colchester, a professor of neurology at the University of Kent, said the most likely origin of BSE and the subsequent deaths from variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease was the import from the Indian subcontinent of bone meal containing infected human remains.


The original cause of the 1986 BSE crisis has remained unknown
Since the first case of BSE was reported in Britain in 1986, the original cause has remained unknown.

The most widely favoured candidate has been the transmission of sheep scrapie, a fatal degenerative disease that affects the nerve system, to cattle through feed.


snip


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/09/02/nbse02.xml&sSheet=/portal/2005/09/02/ixportal.html

[Nothing Without Hope]

50. OMG - how horrible!!! This is the first I've heard of human remains in

bone meal fed to cattle.

[Im_Your_Huckleberry]

57. iiiiitttts peeeeople!!!! soylent green! iiiitttsss peeeeople!!!!

[Megahurtz]

66. GAAAK!!!

:puke:

[Shallah Kali]

49. Mad Cow diagnosed as Alzheimer's, can cause both Sporadic & Varient

Mad Cow: Linked to thousands of CJD cases?
http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20030721-102924-4786r

Clusters of CJD have been reported in various areas of the United States -- Pennsylvania in 1993, Florida in 1994, Oregon in 1996, New York in 1999-2000 and Texas in 1996. In addition, several people in New Jersey developed CJD in recent years, including a 56-year-old woman who died on May 31, 2003. Although in some instances, a mad cow link was suspected, all of the cases ultimately were classified as sporadic.

People who develop CJD from eating mad-cow-contaminated beef have been thought to develop a specific form of the disorder called variant CJD. But new research, released last December, indicates the mad cow pathogen can cause both sporadic CJD and the variant form.

"Now people are beginning to realize that because something looks like sporadic CJD they can't necessarily conclude that it's not linked to (mad cow disease)," said Laura Manuelidis, section chief of surgery in the neuropathology department at Yale University, who conducted a 1989 study that found 13 percent of Alzheimer's patients actually had CJD

Several studies, including the one by Manuelidis, have found autopsies reveal 3-percent-to-13-percent of patients diagnosed with Alzheimer's or dementia actually suffered from CJD. Those numbers might sound low, but there are 4-million Alzheimer's cases and hundreds of thousands of dementia cases in the United States. A small percentage of those cases could add up to 120,000 or more CJD victims going undetected and not included in official statistics.

[truebrit71]

58. Yup. I read this about a year or so ago...

Folks, Mad Cow is here, it HAS been here for a while but there is no frickin' way you will ever be told the truth about it...

[YouthInAsia]

2. Why I dont eat beef. At all. Stick with turkey (cheaper too)

[Dover]

3. I don't even buy my pets anything with beef in it.

Chicken and Turkey only....organic, no hormones thank you very much.

[AllyCat]

42. Yup! No beef for my cats either. It's not that hard to read the labels. nt

[NIGHT TRIPPER]

70. note:watch labels that list VAGUE ingredients ("liver")-non specific

Cat food (IAMS to name but one) won't identify what animal but list the "organ"--
check for yourself --take a look on Iams label--it just lists "liver" as one of the many many ingredients--and you can bet it's cow liver---Downer mad cow is first pawned off to pet food manufacturers-and there are plenty of mad cows out there.

[NIGHT TRIPPER]

69. same here--NO COW body parts for my dogs OR cats-not for 5 yrs

I'd make them vegetarian (like myself) but I don't want them to get health problems because they are carnivores.
(unlike humans)

[progressivebydesign]

11. No beef here... actually no animal meat at all.

I stick with white meat turkey and chicken. I have the occasional splurge once a year of a burger, then regret it after I read a day or two later that there has been a Mad Cow scare, happens like clockwork every time. No more annual burgers for me! The worst thing is that I actually feel guilting even eating turkey and chicken, but I'm too lame to ensure that I get the right protiens by going totally meatless (I hate beans of all kinds).

[hippiechick]

15. Turkey and Chicken aren't meat ?

:shrug:

[Ediacara]

18. Birds aren't animals!?

Did you mean to say "actually no mammal meat at all"?

[kestrel91316]

19. psssst (taps progressivebydesign on shoulder) -

chicken and turkey ARE animals.

As opposed to plants.

Suspect you meant mammals?

[harpboy_ak]

68. I'll take moose & venison any day

over beef or pork, unless I know that it's pasture-fed and I know who raised it.

But living in Alaska, I do get a chance to get out and take responsibility for killing my meat animals, just like folks used to do. I also eat a lot of nice wild Alaska salmon, halibut, shrimp, and crab.

I prefer lamb over beef because 1) it's not shot full of hormones and
2) it has more flavor, closer to venison. Since its mother was pastured, pesticide levels will be low even if it's not organic.

Nothing, however, beats a nice venison backstrap from a nubbin' buck or a good rib steak from a 2 year old moose bull. Except maybe king crab cooked right on the beach after skindiving friends catch a few.

:9 :9 :9 :9 :9

[donsu]

4. kicking because mad cow info is being suppressed by bushgang

and bushgang beef barons

[RC]

6. Ah-haa! There is at least one other like me out there.

I was raised on beef. Since the BFEE took over our government I have quit eating beef. I sure miss those cheese burgers though.
But I have found a substitute. Morningstar Farms veggie burgers Grillers Prime. Makes great tasting cheese burgers with the works! Satisfies the graving.

[yorkiemommie1]

8. me too

the substitutes are pretty good nowadays.

[OnionPatch]

12. Me three

You aren't alone. I've been reading these kinds of stories (indicating suppression of reports of the disease in the US) for a few years now and my family and I no longer eat beef unless it's totally grass fed.

[jwirr]

14. I don't think grass fed makes much difference. When I was

younger and living on an Iowa farm we had to have cattle purchases from Montana and S. & N. Dakota tested for mad cow disease. Those cattle were bought from the prairie states as calves to fatten them up with corn. So the grass fed cattle which probably includes Idaho cattle are no safer. The only thing that will once again make us safe is thorough testing of the cattle at the sales point. And the so called 'pro-life' pubs will never do that!!

[Igel]

7. I wonder if she got it from venison.

Chronic wasting disease, in other words.

But even that's unlikely.

[stubtoe]

9. OK, here we go.

The USDA's suppression of testing, and test results, of BSE could be starting to generate casualties.

[0007]

10. The beef business is big big big bucks. The cover up has been

in the makings for years now.

[patdem]

16. At one point I believed I had that disease...having read about it..then

I had some other problems..took all sorts of pain killers, a friends anti psychotic drugs all for pain relief..then had what turned out to be a seizure...however here is how it went.

I thought I was having a stroke...I could not decide what to do...I sat scared and told my husband to call 911. I waited..sitting on the bed..then when I got up I could not put my arms through my jacket...I had NO control over my body. When I tried to walk down the stairs my legs wanted to go up..and not down...I was terrified, cause my thinking was not effected only the control over my body...VERY SCARY..While in the hospital I began trembling and the nurse/doctor? asked why I was shaking and I could not explain ..then I had a seizure. The first I have ever had in my life! I believed I had mad cow disease for almost a year, expecting it to deteriorate.. It will be two years this Jan since it happened. So I think it was truly an eplileptic seizure caused by all the pain killers and other drugs I was taking to ease the pain. Two days latter I was back in the hospital because of pain..and turns out I had gall stone the size of a golf ball...both my stone and my gall baldder were removed. I have been fine ever since! But I will tell you..the fear of that disease is EXTREMLY frightening!

[cassiepriam]

17. People have been dying in this country of CJ for many years now.

Been covered up and kept secret. Wonder why?
Beef industry? Govt?

[Shallah Kali]

48. Look at how much it cost Britian's cattle industry because of CJD

They slaughtered herd after herd and burned the bodies to make sure no prions were left to spread. There are hundreds of millions on the line if it became general public knowledge that mad cow was widespread in American raised cattle and how easy it can spread to other food animals.

[cassiepriam]

53. I know personally two people who were killed by CJ in one year.

And the families were told to keep hush hush about the dx.
Very very strange.

[raccoon]

64. "the dx.?" nt

[gulfcoastliberal]

71. Ages?

:scared:

[blackhorse]

55. I'm not sure ...

... how reliable the report at this link is, but IMO they make a good case for the outbreak of BSE in the U.S. food supply, and provide an explanation for the bizarre cattle mutilations seen out west.

Cheers

BH

http://www.nidsci.org/pdf/cattledeaths_tse_epidemic.pdf

[kestrel91316]

20. Can somebody please explain to me why the sporadic form of CJD

is considered "naturally occurring" and not due to prion ingestion? They keep telling us this, but I cannot come up with the logic behind it.

If we don't test the cattle adequately, we can deny we have Mad Cow Disease here in the US. Once we deny that, it's easy to say that sporadic CJD cannot be due to exposure to MCD because we "don't have MCD here". It just doesn't pass the sniff test with me.

And there is also that little matter of how many "Alzheimer's" cases are actually prion diseases. And how pathologists hate to do postmortems on Alzheimer's patients, and morticians hate to work on them..........

Let's all just put the blinders on and go about our business. Nothing to see here, now move along.

[Kailassa]

22. I think we all need potential plug-pullers just in case

I've wondered the same thing. But I can give hearsay evidence from my daughter who works in an old-folks home for 7th Day Adventists that there are a lot there with various forms of senile dementia.

For myself, I eat very little beef and don't use anything with aluminium in. And I still worry sometimes that I'm losing my ... my ... what was I saying now? Yes, lovely man, that Bush, perhaps one day he'll pat Me on the head :patriot:

[daleo]

23. The idea is that it is a mistake in the prion folding

That happens spontaneously in the individual, without an outside causative agent. I suppose it is supposed to be like a mutation that way.

Granted, it may be a convenient coverup for food related cases.

[kestrel91316]

24. I think if we bothered to REALLY look into sCJD we wouldn't like

what we found. So we don't look.

[daleo]

30. I agree.

There is a lot of "what you don't see won't hurt you" surrounding this subject.

[MountainLaurel]

28. For some background info

On prion diseases, read Deadly Feasts by Pulitzer winner Richard Rhodes (who authored the piece recently comparing America's response to Katrina to the USSR's response to Cherbobyl).

[daleo]

29. Mad Cow USA is also good.

And it can be downloaded for free from the internet.

[Nothing Without Hope]

51. Here is a graphic of Rhodes' comparison of Katrina & Chernobyl:

OT, but I thought you would want to see this and share it:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4942295

[AllyCat]

41. Alzheimers and other dementia...one has to wonder, huh?

You said it Kestrel! When they do autopsy Alzheimer's patients' brains, there are large plaques and areas with no nervous tissue (see "the Nun Study"). That is exactly the kind of change consistent with prion infection.

There is something wrong here, isn't there?

[krkaufman]

25. Oh, I thought this was a thread about Paris Hilton and Nicole Ritchie n/t

[Kailassa]

26. No, just a case of you are what you eat.

[nicknameless]

46. LOL!

[nashville_brook]

27. kick and rec'd b/c meat is murdering us

[TexasLawyer]

31. Read MAD COWBOY by Howard Lyman

http://www.vegparadise.com/vegreading7.html

Everyone who eats beef should read Mad Cowboy. It will shock you right out of the meat aisle.

From a review in VegParadise:

MAD COWBOY
Plain Truth from the Cattle Rancher Who Won't Eat Meat
By Howard Lyman
With Glen Merzer

Scribner, 1998

When Howard Lyman traveled back to his home town in Montana, he decided to look up his poker playing buddies. Of the nine, who are about his age (60), four have died from complications of heart disease or emphysema, three have heart disease, one is struggling with colon cancer, and one has survived prostate cancer. He is the only one of the group in good health, and in Mad Cowboy he attributes his physical condition to his vegetarian diet.

<snip>

As a cattle rancher and feedlot operator who practiced factory farming, he gained a clear picture of how meat is produced in this country. What he describes are unsavory practices to produce an abundance of meat for the American dining table. Lyman's description of animal intestines, heads, hooves, horns, bones, and blood, as well as dead, diseased animals ground up, cooked, dried and then used as animal feed brought him to national attention as a defendant in a law suit. Fortunately, his co-defendant was Oprah Winfrey. After hearing this description on her program, Oprah declared, "Cows are herbivores. They should not be eating other cows. It has stopped me cold from eating another hamburger."

Because of their statements on the show, Winfrey and Lyman were sued by a group of Texas cattlemen for making "slanderous" statements about cattle and beef in violation of the Texas Food Disparagement Act. As Lyman points out, the burden of proof in the case rests on the shoulders of the defendants. Lyman reveals that thirteen states have similar food disparagement laws which are a "concerted attack on First Amendment freedoms." Because of his statements, the Food and Drug Administration instituted a ban on feeding ruminant protein to other ruminants, a move to ward off mad cow disease.

One of the most shocking chapters of the book is titled "Mad Cows and Bureaucrats." In it he details how bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) or mad cow disease was detected in Britain because scrapie-infected sheep were ground up and fed to cows. Mad cow disease is a brain-wasting disease. The human equivalent is Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease (CJD) where the brain deteriorates, develops holes, and becomes like a sponge. While this is occurring the victim becomes blind and demented and loses motor functions. Because of the highly infectious nature of CJD, scientists are even reluctant to research it. According to information presented by Lyman, the British government has finally admitted a possible link between BSE and CJD after a number of people have contracted CJD. Lyman's fear is that BSE and CJD are already on the horizon in this country. He details a shocking number (8) cases of CJD diagnosed in the northeastern corner of Texas.

<snip>

[Nothing Without Hope]

52. I agree - this book is a must-read. It will put you off mass market

chicken too. Absolutely horrifying.

[niallmac]

32. It's worse than the article leads you to believe:

(Dateline 10/2/05)
Officials investigate sixth possible case of CJD
Elmore County man receiving treatment
By Sandy Miller
Times-News writer

TWIN FALLS -- Idaho health officials are investigating a sixth possible case of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, this time a man in Elmore County, according to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare.

The man is over the age of 60 and is currently being treated for the neurological disease. He is the sixth person to be diagnosed with CJD since January in southern Idaho.
snip.
http://www.magicvalley.com/articles/2005/08/18/news_topstory/news_topstory.1.txt

[crispini]

33. Stories like these reaffirm my desire to cut out the meat.

Nasty, nasty, nasty.

[Catchawave]

34. More info:

From our buddies at Organic Consumers.org:

http://www.organicconsumers.org/madcow.htm

[mzmolly]

35. Feed cows grass for gosh sakes!

:(

[AllyCat]

40. You're right...this happens because of animal protein in cattle feed

Cows are vegetarians!!! They eat grass and some grain. But they eat what's put in front of them and if all they get is manufactured feed with ground up cows in it...what else are they gonna do? Yuk...

[mzmolly]

45. "Grass Fed Beef"

I order from a local farmer and it's a bit gamey, but I feel good about supporting the cause.

[Lifelong Protester]

36. Anyone out there read Fast Food Nation?

My copy is at work, so I can't look this up, but someone out there probably has a copy and can tell us this. Lynn Cheney is on the board of one of the biggest processors and producers of beef, and her presence in this industry has made it pretty difficult to get the number of USDA inspectors we need.

I don't eat meat at all, and get a little nervous everytime my husband has a beef dish at a restaurant.

[The Wielding Truth]

67. How did Lynn Cheney get on the board

of one of the biggest processors and producers of beef? How is this not conflict of interest for Dicky to have wife in this position? Is she still involved?

[yurbud]

37. damn--I've eaten a lot of beef...now my brain's gonna look like Spongebob

[AllyCat]

39. Switch now to naturally raised beef, if you must eat it.

Husband says it tastes better anyway and is a much safer source of beef.

[shanti]

43. and because of the price of naturally raised beef

people won't be eating much of it anyway. :shrug: probably best to give it up all together.

[yurbud]

44. I would if I had the money. I usually buy cheapest cuts except burgers

try to avoid those except at better restaurants.

[AllyCat]

54. Just remember what a serving size of beef is. 4 oz. a day

That is a serving of meat. 42 oz porterhouses and the huge slabs the beef and restaurant industries show in their advertising are unnecessary! It's too much protein and hard on the kidneys.

If you eat smaller, reasonable portions, naturally-raised meat becomes more realistic as an option.

[yurbud]

60. shoot. I can eat a whole pot roast by myself.

[AllyCat]

38. Glad I haven't eaten the stuff in almost 20 years.

I really, really believe that some types of dementia (probably more than we already suspect) are caused by a prion. Some interesting research started by a UW researcher about a decade ago found that taking the brains of mink with a prion-caused brain disease and crushing them up to put as "animal protein" in cattle food, infected the cattle. This is not science fiction. The cattle industry regularly feeds animal protein to otherwise vegetarian animals to keep their size up.

The researcher didn't think it was too much of a stretch to wonder about dairy from these animals as well. So far, the prions seem to be only in central nervous system tissue (spinal cord, brain). But if they can mutate quickly...man, oh man would I be worried.

I think the beef industry is hiding a lot from us and has a ever-willing accomplice in BushCo.

Oh yeah, the researcher? Had his funding cut when his data started to show what I wrote above. It was in our local weekly paper about 10 years ago so I don't know what info/links might be available on the net.

[Shallah Kali]

47. Petitions - please sign and pass along if you agree

Consumers Union: Protect America’s beef! Tell USDA to test more cattle for mad cow disease!
http://cu.convio.net/site/Advocacy?id=573

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) confirmed in June that a cow born and bred in the United States had tested positive for mad cow disease. This was the second confirmed case of mad cow in the United States. And shockingly, even thought the animal was suspected of having the disease last November, the USDA failed to use the best available tests to diagnose the case for seven months!

This is a wake-up call to American consumers. We need swift and decisive action from federal regulators to ensure that the U.S. beef supply remains safe, and recommend that the USDA test all cattle over 20 months of age for mad cow disease.

USDA claims it can measure the extent of the mad cow risk because it tests the highest risk animals approximately 1% of all cattle slaughtered each year. But USDA’s surveillance and testing program is so secretive that the public has no way of knowing whether they are targeting high-risk or low-risk animals, or if their methods are based on sound science.

Act now! Urge the USDA to take immediate action to keep the U.S. food supply safe from mad cow disease.

~~~~~~
Urge the USDA to to keep U.S. beef safe from mad cow disease!
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/799454572

20,371 signatures

Target: Honorable Mike Johanns, Secretary of Agriculture
Sponsor: Consumers UnionSignatures: 20,360
Goal: 20,000
Deadline: Ongoing...
See Full Petition
Email this Petition
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) confirmed in June that a cow born and bred in the United States had tested positive for mad cow disease. This was the second confirmed case of mad cow in the United States. And shockingly, even thought the animal was suspected of having the disease last November, the USDA failed to use the best available tests to diagnose the case for seven months!

This is a wake-up call to American consumers. We need swift and decisive action from federal regulators to ensure that the U.S. beef supply remains safe, and recommend that the USDA test all cattle over 20 months of age for mad cow disease.

USDA claims it can measure the extent of the mad cow risk because it tests the highest risk animals, or approximately 1% of all cattle slaughtered each year. But USDA's surveillance and testing program is so secretive that the public has no way of knowing whether they are targeting high-risk or low-risk animals, or if their methods are based on sound science.

We must act sooner rather than later. If people eat beef from an animal infected with mad cow disease, they are at risk of contracting the incurable brain-wasting disorder, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. The United Kingdom illustrates what can happen when regulators are slow to react; in that country an outbreak of mad cow disease resulted in millions of cattle being destroyed, beef exports being blocked for many years, and 147 human deaths.

Urge the USDA to take immediate action to keep the U.S. food supply safe from mad cow disease.

~~~~~~
Organic Consumers Union: Campaigning for Food Safety, Organic Agriculture, Fair Trade & Sustainability
http://www.organicconsumers.org/madcow.htm

Petition is in right hand margin of page beside articles on mad cow, mad deer, etc.

Join tens of thousands of citizens and sign the Mad Cow USA-Stop the Madness petition, demanding that the US Government adopt and enforce the same strict standards required by the European Union and Japan:

* Mandatory testing for all cattle brought to slaughter, before they enter the food chain.

* Ban the feeding of blood, manure, and slaughterhouse waste to animals.

* Stop harassing farmers and food processors who are interested in independently testing their own beef.

~~~~~
SUPPORT THE DOWNED ANIMAL PROTECTION ACT
http://www.nodowners.org/intro_dapa.htm

Downers are ill cattle which might have mad cow as well as other diseases. In any case IMO it is a very bad idea to eat diseased meat even when it does not have CJD!

This measure provides an appropriate remedy to an unnecessary and inexcusable problem. It requires critically ill and injured animals to be humanely euthanized, and prohibits their slaughter for human food.

Please urge your Senators and Representative to cosponsor the Downed Animal Protection Act.

If your Senator(s) and/or Representative have co-sponsored, send them a "Thank You" letter. If they are not listed, please write and urge them to co-sponsor the Downed Animal Protection Act.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

56. Creepy!

My wife and I just watched a S2 X-Files episode that dealt with this very same subject. Turns out people were getting this same disease from practicing cannabalism in their quiet little town using the local chicken processing plant.

[donsu]

59. an aside: milk tastes better from grass fed cows

nt

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

61. this is how Dr. Phil got his start

remember when Oprah was sued by the beef industry for her show
on mad cow?

And then she hired Dr. Phil to assist her legal team in preparing for the court case?

Many have forgotten.

[mvd]

62. I'm about to restrict my meat

I really don't trust this maladministration to keep us informed.

[raccoon]

65. kick nt

[gulfcoastliberal]

72. Merck Manual for Prion Diseases:

http://www.merck.com/mmhe/sec06/ch090/ch090a.html

Scary shit.

[JackieO]

73. kick cuz I went looking for it

spooky stuff

[Hekate]

74. Bush did to the Dept of Ag what he did to FEMA

Just spent a couple of weeks with an old friend who is a civil servant in DC, and "what he did to FEMA" pretty much sums up her knowledge and feelings about what's happened at Agriculture. Needless to say she hasn't let beef touch her lips in quite some years.

As far as I can tell from their actions, Bush and his pals have a bone-deep contempt for federal government and are wrecking it as fast as they can. As with FEMA, they don't know and don't care what the actual purposes of the various agencies are, and simply believe they can be out of Dodge before the cattle stampede down Main Street.

I now regret every bite of cow I've had since the first CJD case appeared in the news and was hushed up. And I sure as hell wish I could convince my grown kids to stop BBQ-ing the stuff.

As for my friend, we went together to the March on September 24th, and she cheered up immensely -- being in the midst of several hundred thousand like-minded folks will do that.

Hekate