Case of Mad Cow Disease Confirmed in Alabama
A cow in Alabama has tested positive for mad cow disease, the Agriculture Department said Monday, confirming the third U.S. case of the brain-wasting ailment. The cow did not enter the food supply for people or animals, officials said. .... The news came as the Bush administration worked to reassure Japan and other foreign customers of American beef. Japan halted U.S. beef shipments in January after finding veal cuts with backbone -- cuts that are eaten in the U.S. but not in Asia. Japan was the top customer of American beef until the first U.S. case of mad cow disease prompted a ban it had only recently lifted.
Mad Cow Disease is the common name for bovine spongiform
encephalopathy, or BSE. It’s likely carried via prions, virus-like snippets of proteins,
that can be transferred between species in various ways. BSE expresses itself
in some ways very much like Alzheimer’s disease, destroying the brain and other
nervous tissue.
Lest one think the Japanese are being overcautious, we
should remember that these are the folks who eat blowfish, which can prove
immediately fatal to those who prepare it incorrectly.
The Japanese and other countries require 100 percent of
imported beef to be tested for BSE. Our government (Food and Drug
Administration) refuses to do so, even stopping ranchers that willingly want to
test their beef, fearing, well, who knows what the FDA fears, but it can’t be
good!
Perhaps Magical Trevor can save us? As we are learning over and
over again lately, we can’t depend on our government to help us out. jg
10:48:58 PM 
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