Has Case Of Mad Cow Hit Human Patient In Peel?

 

Thursday June 26, 2008

CityNews.ca Staff

They are three little letters that imply something truly terrible: CJD.

It stands for Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, the ailment most often associated with Mad Cow disease. And there may be a human case in the GTA.

CityNews has learned a Mississuga man in the neurosurgery unit in Trillium Health Centre may be suffering from the illness. There’s no confirmation yet that it’s linked to Mad Cow, but the diagnosis alone is frightening.

http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_24228.aspx

Even vegetarians may not be safe from ‘mad cow’ prions

10:34 26 June 2008
NewScientist.com news service
Ewen Callaway

Fancy a dose of prions with your vegetables? A new study suggests that infectious prions - thought to be the causative agents in mad cow disease and human vCJD - can survive wastewater decontamination and wind up in fertiliser, potentially contaminating fruit and vegetables.The prions would be present in such low quantities that they are unlikely to pose a health threat, but as a precaution, “we should prevent the entry of prions into wastewater treatment plants,” says microbiologist Joel Pedersen, of the University of Wisconsin in Madison, US, who led the research.

Prions could end up in wastewater treatment plants via slaughterhouse drains, hunted game cleaned in a sink, or humans with vCJD shedding prions in their urine or faeces, Pedersen says.

more:

 http://urlet.com/downhill.sans

One more mad-cow case discovered in B.C.

The Canadian Press

June 24, 2008

Ottawa — Another case of mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, has been found in B.C., the third in the past three years in the province and one of a dozen across the country.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency isn’t saying where the infected cow is located but an investigation is under way to determine where it was born.

http://urlet.com/dual.multifaced

 

Stop the Madness - Mad Cow Editorial

Stop the Madness

By MICHAEL HANSEN
Published: June 20, 2008

THE Korean beef market, once the third-largest importer of American beef, has shut its doors to the United States. Why? Because Koreans are worried about eating meat tainted with mad cow disease, which can be fatal to humans.

….{snip}….

American beef producers could easily allay those fears by subjecting every cow at slaughter to the so-called rapid test, which costs about $20 per carcass and screens for this brain-wasting disease in a few hours rather than days. But the United States Department of Agriculture won’t allow that.

In 2004, Creekstone Farms in Arkansas City, Kan., wanted to test the cattle it slaughters to comply with the wishes of its Korean and Japanese customers. But the department ruled that the rapid test could only be used as part of its own mad cow surveillance program
….{snip}….

More: http://urlet.com/airline.ukraine

Tens of thousands of South Koreans rally against U.S. beef

   SEOUL, May 31 (Yonhap) — Tens of thousands of people, holding lighted candles, rallied in Seoul and other cities on Saturday night against a beef import deal their government signed with Washington, claiming that it fails to protect South Koreans from the danger of mad cow disease.

   The South Korean government inked a controversial agreement with the United States on April 18 to open its market to most American beef cuts. Many angry South Koreans have since taken to the streets for protests almost daily.

   Public anger against the beef deal escalated after the government officially announced Friday that it will enforce the deal within days. The decision was announced, hours before President Lee Myung-bak was to return home from an official four-day trip to China.

   “Go away, mad cow!,” shouted a protest leader on a podium in front of the Seoul City Hall. The crowd, estimated at 30,000, picked up the chant, pumping their fists into the air.

http://urlet.com/caught.identified
 

South Korean opposition parties ask court to block imports of US beef

The Associated Press
Published: May 30, 2008

SEOUL, South Korea: South Korea’s political opposition asked the Constitutional Court on Friday to block U.S. beef from entering the country after the government announced it would resume imports within days under an accord with Washington.

The government’s announcement came despite widespread public opposition to the beef deal, which critics say fails to adequately protect against mad cow disease. About 9,000 people took to the streets in Seoul on Thursday night to denounce the move.

Three main opposition parties filed lawsuits Friday asking the Constitutional Court to rule that the government’s move violates the people’s right to health, and to issue an injunction against a resumption of imports until it issues a verdict.

They also demanded that all Cabinet members resign.

 http://urlet.com/rooms.festival

Mad cow disease in Oklahoma?

by Publisher at 06:32AM (AKDT) on May 22, 2008

(TULSA, Okla.) May 19 - Tulsa’s medical community is asking questions after some concerns a Green Country man may have died of mad cow disease, medically known as Variant CJD. 
FOX23 first told you last month that a man was admitted to Saint John Medical Center with a mysterious illness.  He died one week later. 
After the story first aired, the man’s son called FOX23.  It turns out his father was from Kellyville.  He says his dad did die of CJD, which is often referred to as the human form of mad cow disease.  And he may not be the only victim in that Creek County town. 

 Specialists there diagnosed Donald with something Randy had never heard of, Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease or CJD.  “I asked what that was, and she said a cousin to mad cow disease.  I was stunned and thought how could’ve he gotten that?”

more from Battalion of Deborah:  http://urlet.com/fair.sheet

What’s a Little Mad Cow Between Friends?

May 9, 2008 by Will

One of the facets of life that should no longer amaze me but does is the extent to which business, industry, and the Bush administration bloviate about the wonders of the free market until the exact moment it shows signs of not working in their favor.

This, courtesy of Time.com, is an absolutely ridiculous example:

more from http://mouemagazine.wordpress.com/

http://urlet.com/corp.measuring

Government asks court to block wider testing for mad cow

By SAM HANANEL – 10 hours ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Bush administration on Friday urged a federal appeals court to stop meatpackers from testing all their animals for mad cow disease, but a skeptical judge questioned whether the government has that authority.

The government seeks to reverse a lower court ruling that allowed Arkansas City, Kan.-based Creekstone Farms Premium Beef to conduct more comprehensive testing to satisfy demand from overseas customers in Japan and elsewhere.

Less than 1 percent of slaughtered cows are currently tested for the disease under Agriculture Department guidelines. The agency argues that more widespread testing does not guarantee food safety and could result in a false positive that scares consumers.

more………   http://urlet.com/center.carlo

Humane Society says video shows abused livestock

Wed May 7, 2008 5:36pm EDTBy Christopher Doering

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Humane Society of the United States on Wednesday released new video taken at animal auctions in four states that showed sick and injured cows lying on the ground, and called on the U.S. government to prevent further cases of animal abuse at similar facilities.

The video, taken by the Humane Society during April and May in Maryland, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Texas, showed downed cattle lying on the ground with no human assistance for several hours, and in one case the animal was left outside without food or water during the night.

–To see the video go to: video.hsus.org/

 

More from Reuters:  http://urlet.com/randy.south