New case of mad cow disease detected in Canada

[seafan]

Source: ChannelNewsAsia

OTTAWA - A new case of mad cow disease has been detected in the western Canadian province of Alberta, the government's Food Inspection Agency announced Friday.

The degenerative ailment known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) was discovered in a six-year-old slaughtered cow, but authorities offered assurances that no part of the animal has entered the food chain.

It was the 14th case of mad cow disease discovered in Canada since 2003.

BSE is the suspected cause of a similar brain-destroying illness in humans called variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD). - AFP/vm

Read more: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/368599/1/.html

---

Previously:

February 26, 2008

OTTAWA (AP) — Canadian officials confirmed a new case of mad cow disease Tuesday, the second such case in two months and the 12th since the disease was first discovered in Canada in 2003.

The 13th case was detected June 23, 2008.

[dipsydoodle]

1. I thought

Dr Rice was in Russia ?

[RC]

2. Canada checks their cows. The U.S., not so much.

I will eat Canadian beef in Canada. I will not eat beef form anywhere here in the United States.

To edwardlindy You're funny. :toast:

[AndyTiedye]

5. Mad Cowboy Disease is Much More Worrysome

[Nikki Stone1]

3. Anyone know how to cook tofu?

I am thinking of doing more tofu and no beef.

[yewberry]

4. You rang?

All kidding aside, the only reason we don't have BSE in the US is that we don't seriously test for it, That's some scary shit, right there.

[awoke_in_2003]

6. You got that right...

we don't test enough. And when one organic beef company (I forgot their name, had Creek in it though) requested enough kits to test their whole herd (at their cost), the FDA balked. Guess they were afraid it might start a trend, and the big boys would have to start doing the same. Stick with organic grass fed- and get the added benefit of more omega 3 fats.

[yewberry]

7. Good memory

It was Creekstone.

http://www.commondreams.org/news2008/0610-17.htm

[awoke_in_2003]

8. Thanks,

gotta remember that. Just one more bit of proof that it is big business that really runs this country.

on edit: it is a sad statement that we have to rely on our memories to keep us in tune. May not be happening now, but soon we will not have documents (and web sites) to point to. Once the record keeping, and associated Memory holes, are taken care of, it is easy to discredit the dissenting voice by claiming insanity. "1984" is a book all americans should read (several times)

[HubertHeaver]

10. Once the "paperless society" is achieved

and the historians are killed, the past is malleable.

[awoke_in_2003]

11. That term "paperless society"

is kinda funny. When I was going to high school (in the mid 80's) computers were starting to come out in force. The "Paperless Office" was something much lauded. Problem is, with cheap printing technologies, printing became cheaper (and easier) than ever. Offices have more paper now than ever before. You make a good and valid point, just a funny thought that popped in my head. Without proper and verifiable hard copies of things, which at some time in the future will be illegal to own (ala Fahrenheit 451), those in control get to re-write history.

[pipoman]

9. I buy a lot of beef from

Creekstone, 80-160 lbs per week, great meat.

[uppityperson]

15. What do you do with that much?

I'm assuming you don't personally eat 10-20 lb beef a day. Restaurant?

[pipoman]

16. Yes, a restaurant

I go through 80+ pounds of trimmed brisket from Creekstone and 40+ of hamburger from Creekstone. I didn't start seeking out their beef, it is just what I received when I ordered. Since then I have ordered brisket 2 times from another supplier (Sysco) when the Creekstone supplier (Ben E. Keith) was out. The fat side of the briskets in both cases all had small green spots. The spots would wash off, I'm not sure if they were fecal matter or something else but it is a little unsettling.

[pipoman]

12. The answer is buying Source and age Verified meats from feeder cattle

This is a great source:

http://healthymeats.net/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1_16

I have been in their processing plant several times, I would eat a sandwich off the floor in most parts. (I am in no way affiliated)

Mad cow disease is a result of feeding beef bone/blood meal and other beef byproducts to cattle. This is no longer done in the US. It is still practiced in some other countries as a supplement usually for dairy cattle. Cattle infected are always older cattle used for other purposes than meat production, when their usefulness is over they are sent into meat production. Feeder cattle are raised exclusively for meat production, 16-20 months from birth to food chain. These supplements are not needed to bring feeder cattle to weight. Feeder cattle are fed high carb diets. Animal byproducts do not help weight gain which is the sole goal of beef producing cattle ranchers/feeders.

Similar diseases have plagued people and animals when cannibalism is part of the culture or diet.

[doodadem]

17. What is your take on Johne's Disease in cattle then?

Johne's (pronounced "YOH-nees) Disease is highly contagious, always fatal to the animal, has no vaccine and no cure. It causes severe, wasting diarrhea. Cattle can pick it up in the soil where infected animals have been for up to 5 years. It appears to affect all ruminants (animals that chew a cud--cattle, goats, sheep, etc.) It is more prevalent where there is alot of turnover, with new animals coming in often.
I learned all about it when our pet Brahma steer contracted it from our idiot neighbor's trespassing cattle. He got progressively worse over a couple years till we finally had to put him down. Successful testing for the disease depends on when the animal is shedding the cells in the lifecycle. You get false negatives. Our guy was tested twice, one false negative, one positive. Funny thing--the state lab promptly lost the positive results, so we couldn't have them in an on-going lawsuit against the neighbors. Thankfully, our little pygmy goat was negative.

Johne's gets very little press. But if you ask a cattle vet in Calif., they're fairly horrified by it. Statistics are something like 80%++ animals would test positive for it here, and across the U.S. Problem is, it can take a couple years for an animal to become symptomatic. Most have been slaughtered by then. It is so contagious, that the big farms will have two sets of equipment, one to use on the segregated Johne's cattle, the other to use on the negative ones.

Johne is being linked to Crohn's Disease in humans. Our neighbor bragged in court about regularly selling his cattle to the local Hmong population here. I would expect them to start turning up with Crohn's in the next several years.

I haven't eaten beef for about 5 years now.........

[pipoman]

20. I haven't heard much about it

I do know one person with Crohn's, I will ask her what she has heard from her doctors. I find it a bit unbelievable that 80% of beef have a disease which causes crohn's yet I only know one person who has the disease. My fatherinlaw is a cattle rancher and he keeps up with these things, I will ask him too. Most of our beef is raised either on our farm or on his, and I have not seen any of these symptoms in his herds when I help him work his cattle.

[doodadem]

21. Google it

We're up in the mountains above the San Joaquin Valley--tons of huge dairy commercial operations. I've talked to several vets about it now because of our guy, and they all tell me the same thing about it being rampant. As I was saying, most people, even cattle farmers, aren't really aware of it because an animal typically does not become symptomatic with the disease until they're about 5 years old. They may have been carrying it since they were babies, often contracting it from their mothers. Since it can live in the ground (or on equipment) for so long, it just keeps getting passed on unless measures are taken to eradicate it.

After we had to put Cowster down, we dug the entire pen out with the front end loader about a foot. Doused the whole area heavily with lime, and then put new dirt back in on top. Our little pygmy goats in there have been fine. Every time the neighbors have let their cattle trespass on our land, I start the 5 year clock over again as to when we may be able to have another cow. It's a shame they can't be quarantined, as they go all over the neighborhood socializing across the other neighbor's fences with their cattle. Nobody gets excited about it because they never keep their animals that long............

[seafan]

18. Creekstone's case to test all their cattle for BSE still pending against the USDA.

In March 2006, Creekstone launched a lawsuit against the USDA for refusing to allow complete testing. On March 29, 2007, Judges James Robertson of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that USDA cannot lawfully prevent Creekstone from testing its cattle for BSE. USDA's appeal of that decision to the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit is pending.

The company reports that Japan's ban on U.S. beef beginning in 2003 caused the company to lose a third of its sales, prompting the layoff of about 150 people.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creekstone_Farms_Premium_Beef

Bush's USDA is fighting tooth and nail to stop Creekstone and other independent beef producers from testing all their cattle for BSE before slaughter. *Big Cattle Producers* who are among the top contributors to the Bushes certainly can't have THAT. Other countries don't want our untested beef, but to Bush's contributors and his USDA, if they can run the smaller beef producers out of business, then it's worth shaving off some of their own revenue to accomplish it.

I cannot WAIT to clean out all of Bush's cronies in the USDA, FDA, EPA and the other (now-gutted) regulatory agencies, so we can again focus on protection of our public health regulations, the way we all deserve from a healthy government.


Here is Creekstone Farms' website. We should support them.

[pipoman]

19. Creekstone is a fairly large processing facility

which looks like most other facilities spotting cattle country. It is difficult to know if you are buying their beef unless you are buying it at the wholesale level as they are wholesale only. I doubt that all the stores carrying their products listed on their site are selling Creekstone exclusively. That is why I like buying from a small independent processor like Krehbiel's (linked above healthymeats.com) for my meats at home.

It will be interesting to see if there are any real improvements with a Dem administration. I hope there is meaningful change. Democrats haven't exactly been diligent against factory farm operations in the immediate past, Tyson comes to mind. NAFTA/GATT weren't good for small farmers and failure to require country of origin on food hasn't been helpful to small farms either.

[Posteritatis]

13. Let the kneejerk panic resume! (Nt)

[Ian David]

14. Being a vegitarian might not help. Looks like prions may be spread to cattle through the soil.

Looks like you may be able to get the things by "grazing" on sprouts and tofu from contaminated soil.

Resistant Prions: Can They Be Transmitted By Environment As Well As Direct Contact?
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=228x42928

[seafan]

22. August 29, 2008: US Court of Appeals halts Creekstone Farms from testing its cows for BSE.

Another slap in the face by Bush's USDA. Public health BE DAMNED.


Court bars meatpacker tests for mad cow

By Charles Abbott
Aug 29, 2008 7:47pm EDT

Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Agriculture Department is within bounds to bar meatpackers from testing slaughter cattle for mad cow disease, a U.S. Court of Appeals panel said in a 2-1 ruling on Friday.
Creekstone Farms Premium Beef LLC, a small Arkansas packer, filed suit on March 23, 2006, to gain access to mad-cow test kits. It said it wanted to test every animal at its plant to assure foreign buyers that the meat was safe to eat.

.....

In a 25-page ruling, Appellate Judges Karen Henderson and Judith Rogers said USDA has authority under the 1913 Virus-Serum-Toxin Act to prevent sale of mad-cow test kits to meatpackers. USDA interprets the law to control products for "prevention, diagnosis, management or care of diseases of animals."
David Sentelle, chief judge of the District of Columbia appeals circuit, dissented from the decision. He said USDA "exceeds the bounds of reasonableness" for a law enacted to prevent the sale of ineffective animal medicine.

USDA allows the mad-cow test kits to be sold only to laboratories that it approves. It says the tests should not be used as a marketing tool and the cattle that comprise the bulk of the meat supply are too young to be tested reliably.

.....

Two large export markets, Japan and South Korea, accept beef only from younger U.S. cattle. Mad cow is found mostly in older cattle. Its incubation period is two to eight years.

Creekstone said it lost $200,000 a day due to reduced U.S. beef exports when it filed its lawsuit.
In its lawsuit, Creekstone argued the 1913 law could not be invoked to prevent use of products like "rapid test" kits for mad cow disease and the kits were not a "treatment" for livestock.
U.S. District Judge James Robinson had ruled in March 2007 that USDA could not control mad cow tests because they are not a treatment for animals.

The United States applies a number of safeguards against mad cow, formally named bovine spongiform encephalopathy. They include a ban on using cattle parts in feed and requirements for packers to remove at slaughter the materials most likely to carry the mad-cow agent -- the brain, spinal column and nervous system tissue.

[fascisthunter]

23. Watch Beef Industry Take a BIG HIT... no testing.... no purchase!