Ever since Christmas, mad cow disease has been in the news ad nauseum.Because of one infected Holstein cow raised in Alberta, Canada and brought over to Washington State, there has been a worldwide uproar about this disease.People in the United States have been concerned about the safety of the meat that they consume, and countries all over the world have suspended importing American beef.
So, what is all the commotion about? What is mad cow disease and how is it transmitted?
Contrary to popular Midwestern belief, mad cow disease is not a result of tipping over dormant bovines. Rather, it is a form of encephalopathy, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) to be exact. In plain English, bovine spongiform encephalopathy is a disease in cows that destroys their central nervous system, brains and spinal cords.
It is not precisely understood how the disease is transmitted. We do know that the disease is transmitted through a prion, which is a small protein particle that lacks genetic material.These non-living particles elicit changes in the host's natural prion proteins, converting them into a diseased form. Much of this takes place in the central nervous system of the infected human or animal and causes holes to form in the brain or spinal tissue where it is localized.
BSE is widely believed to have come about through the incorporation of cattle, goat and sheep tissue into animal feeds. Although this practice was outlawed by the federal government in 1997, lax policing by the FDA has allowed this activity to continue.
The concern, though, is not only about mad cow disease, but also about the overall quality of the meat products that are being distributed. Until recently, the FDA only required testing cattle that were visibly sick for BSE, which was about 1/2000 cattle last year. That is not a particularly frightening fact because several studies have shown that no more testing is needed to catch infected cows. What is more pertinent is that the test took so long to find the infected Holstein.The cow was tested about two weeks before it was slaughtered and its meat sent out. When it was discovered that the animal was in fact infected, there had to be a large recall on the beef from that area, which is still not complete.
Rather than being a frightening time this should be a forewarning for most Americans. In terms of actually getting the human version, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), the chances are nearly zero. Not only because of the very low chance of actually having eaten any of the meat from that particular bovine, but also because eating the meat does not pose any real danger. The prion exists predominantly in the central nervous system, which is removed from cattle when they are slaughtered, so the slight risk that exists is from contamination. Also, there is no harm in drinking milk from infected cows because it has been shown that the prions do not exist in milk.
There have only been about 150 cases of CJD from mad cow disease recorded in history. For those unfortunates who had the disease, there is no cure and they eventually die after having psychotic episodes and complications with musculature. Not to worry rock fans, Ozzy's problems are from years of drinking and drug abuse and are (most likely) unrelated to mad cow disease.
The last time mad cow disease was in the news was when it struck Great Britain in the late 1980s, where it killed over a hundred people. There, it was more of a problem both because the inspection regulations were antiquated and some European cultures eat more exotic cuts of meat that include parts of the central nervous system. From that episode, the world learned a great deal about the disease and about greater care in meat regulation.
Soon enough, the commotion caused over mad cow disease will die down again, but hopefully not without a lesson learned. Change should not only be induced after a negative event occurs.Having tight regulations on the quality of the foods we eat is important for so many reasons. Sometimes it is not better to let sleeping cows stand.
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