BSE
IT'S NOT MAD, IT'S BSEd!
Mad Cow Disease is a brain disease that affects cows. Cows ALWAYS die from it. The cow brains becomes full of holes, looking like a sponge. First the cow behaves strange and at the end it dies. Because of strange behavior they see, people named this disease Mad Cow Disease. But, it's real name is Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, often known as simply BSE.
We talk lot about Mad Cow. But there are other diseases affecting beef industry!
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DO COWS EAT SHEEP?
Scientists have found out that sheep have a same kind disease. It is called scrapies. This disease existed ONLY in sheep born in the United Kingdom. So, how did cows get the sheep disease? Since 1930s people have made cow feed that has ground meat and bone meal from animals in it - including sheep bone meal and ground meet. Everything was OK until they changed the way they make it some 25 years ago. The change they made allowed the scrapies agent to survive! It was now eaten by cows!!!! But don't be fooled - BSE is NOT scrapie!
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WARNING FOR ALL DAISIES!
How does BSE work- In order for cow to get BSE it must be in contact with infected parts of another animal. And not just any part - BSE is spread by contact with brain or other parts of nervous system. These parts must be from the animal that has the disease. Sometimes it can take years from the time the cow is infected to the time that cow shows disease. This is scary since during that time other animal or humans can get infected After the cow gets disease, the agent that causing it starts to "eat" its brain. The brain starts to look like a sponge with many holes that keep growing as the agent eats it away. Because the brain is not working right, the cow starts losing balance and falling. Than, it starts having problems with senses such as smell and hearing. Cows ALWAYS die! If farmers found the cow that is infected, it is killed. They also kill herds and calves that come from that cow!
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INTERVIEW WITH RESEARCH SCIENTIST
In order to understand BSE better we had an e-mail interview with Charles Ford. He is a a research scientist (immunologist) with one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world . Many scientists are trying to find a cure or a vaccine for the Mad Cow Disease. They are not successful yet. From this interview, we found out that destroying the cattle that is infected is the only way today.
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| INTERVIEW What is your name? Charles W. Ford
What is your job? I am a research scientist (immunologist) in the animal health field.
Is the company you work for or yourself researching any information relating to Mad Cow Disease? We are following with great interest the information on Mad Cow Disease as it unfolds in both the popular press and the scientific and agricultural literature.
What is Mad Cow Disease? Mad Cow Disease is a neurodegenerative disorder. What that means is the normal functioning of the cows' nerves is interfered with and the cow is unable to move and function normally. The cow has difficulty standing, walking and moving in general and controlling its' movements and limbs.
How does a cow contract the disease? It is thought that cows get the disease from eating neural tissue from other infected animals, ie., sheep, that is included in their feed.
What are some side effects the cow may exhibit if it has the disease? The animals cannot control normal movement or posture and eventually are unable to feed or care for themselves.
Is there a cure for Mad Cow Disease? No there is not.
Is there a test that farmers can administer on their cows to test for the disease? No, but samples from each cow can be submitted to a regional or national laboratory where they can be tested for the Mad Cow Disease.
Currently, we have only heard of Canada having outbreaks of Mad Cow Disease, are there other countries involved also? Yes, England was the first country to report a significant outbreak of Mad Cow Disease.
10. Have there been any cases found in the USA? Yes, a small number of related cows have been recently found with the disease.
11.Is the disease dangerous for humans? It is thought that humans can contract the disease from eating the meat of infected animals. This information is from the experience in England, however, the incidence of human disease related to Mad Cow Disease is much smaller than would be anticipated based on the incidence of disease in the cattle herds, thus, there may be some disease-modifying factors occurring of which we are unaware.
12Can a human die from the disease? Yes.
13. Has anyone died from the disease yet? Yes, in England.
What are some of the effects on humans that acquire the Mad Cow Disease? Apparently the same as in cows, lost of control of voluntary movement and eventually breakdown of involuntary muscular control as well. Dementia occurs as well.
Once a human is infected with the Mad Cow Disease, is this disease then given another name? We assume that people contract the disease from cows, that has not been proven to strict scientific standards yet. The analogous human disease is called Creutzfeldt-Jacob syndrome which is characterized by spongiforme encaphalopathy with progressive dementia and wasting.
How can consumers be sure that the meat they are eating is safe? Consumers have to rely on the United States Department of Agriculture which is the bureau of the government charged with ensuring that the meat we eat is safe.
Is there a test that consumers can administer to their beef to make sure it does not carry the disease? No, there is no test consumers can use at this time but there are labs which use sophisticated tests so that cows are screened when they are being slaughtered. Such lab tests are usually contracted by the federal government or state agencies.
What can be done to stop the Mad Cow Disease, if there is not drug to act against it? The effective measure which has been used in Europe and is being used in this continent is the destruction of all animals which have the disease when so tested at slaughter and the destruction of their herd-mates as well. Many other diseases have been so confined like hoof-and-mouth disease which is a very contagious animal disease. Such measures when enforced work quite well.
Are beef suppliers doing all that is possible, or could they do more? There is a lot of debate going on at this time. The debate about what to do is really out of the hands of the suppliers and is being conducted at the level of the USDA. It is actually an economic international issue as well and so will probably be determined at the level of the federal government.
Is the government going to force beef suppliers to administer testing to their cattle before they can sale it to consumers? Almost certainly, although whether the test will be the responsibility of the rancher or wholesaler is as yet undetermined.
Is there any data that shows how the disease has effected the beef industry sales? In England, the disease totally destroyed the beef industry. You could not buy a steak in an English restaurant for several years. In Canada over the last few years all of the Canadian beef exports stopped because the Mad Cow outbreak. As a result, beef prices in the United States rose considerably and ranchers experienced a period of excellent profits while Canadian ranchers couldn't sell a cow. Only about 10% of the U.S. cattle market is oversees sales so the recent discovery of one cow with Mad Cow Disease in the US has not dramatically affected US beef sales yet.
Do you think it will get to the point that humans will have to stop eating beef? No, not at all.
If there is no inoculation that can be administer to healthy cows, do you think this inoculation is going to be invented soon? When? You mean, Is there a vaccine? No there isn't at this time. Also, unless the disease becomes very common which I doubt, there won't be a vaccine because it is much cheaper to be vigilant and contain all outbreaks of the disease than it may be to vaccinate.
24. What is done with cows that are found to have the Mad Cow Disease? They are destroyed and I think burned.
25. What causes Mad Cow Disease. Mad Cow Disease has been reasonably shown to be caused by an infectious protein, called a Prion. Such proteins cause diseases in animals and humans, although they are really extremely rare. Prion-caused diseases take many years if not decades to develop and are therefore very difficult if not almost impossible to study. What can be done is that we can test for the presence of disease in animals and prevent them from spreading the disease to other animals and humans. One of the ways that Mad Cow Disease was stopped in England was the passing of a law which prevented the use of animal nervous tissue in feed for other animals.
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