Beef-eaters beware!!! The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that Vern's Moses Lake Meat Co. in Moses Lake, Wash., is recalling approximately 10,410 pounds of raw beef that may have been exposed to the Mad Cow Disease infectious agent (PRION). The beef was produced on Dec. 9, 2003 and shipped to several establishments for further processing; it is being recalled "out of an abundance of caution" even though it "would not be expected to be infected or have an adverse public health impact. This is wild and dangerous speculation on the part of USDA officials that minimizes the health risked posed by infected beef. Also from Patti Brumbach, executive director of the Washington State Beef Commission: "The infectious agent is only found in the central nervous system tissue. None of that made it into the beef supply. I think once consumers understand that the beef supply is safe, it should be a short-term concern.".
This is simply not true. The infectious agent of Prion disease has been found to accumulate in muscle tissue in mice, in spleen and muscle samples from approximately one third of patients who died with sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, and, in sheep, in non-neuronal tissues as well.
Also, there is evidence that Mad Cow Disease (generally,transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs or prion diseases)) can be transmitted by intravenous blood transfusions, as well as transmitted trans-species..from one species to another...infected beef to humans. The disease is caused by a new infectious agent, neither cellular or viral, called a prion protein.
In assuring the American Public as to the safety of eating meat from a cow with Mad Cow Disease, the USDA relies on ONE research report in the Dtsch Tierarztl Wochenschr. 2002 Aug;109(8):345-8. Meat and potential risks (Article in German) by Gareis M. at the Institut fur Mikrobiologie und Toxikologie, Bundesanstalt fur Fleischforschung, Kulmbach. (m-gareis@baff-kulmbach.de). In his report, the author states:
Muscle meat of these species can be considered safe. Muscle meat of experimentally infected cattle in the preclinical stage and even of animals with clinically manifest BSE has not shown infectivity in homologous and autologous bioassays performed so far.
This finding justifies the assumption that the risk of BSE exposure by the consumption of beef can be classified as extremely low. Nevertheless, the absence of a proof of infectivity can at present not be equated with absence of BSE agents. This is because of the limits of sensitivity of the bioassays and because muscle meat does contain non-muscle tissue such as connective tissue collagen, nerve and lymph tissue and blood vessels."
The preponderance of evidence indicates, in fact, that, in infected animals, the infectious agent, Prions, are found throughout the body. Thus, all tissue of an infected animal MUST be considered as potentially infectious.
At present, there is no diagnostic test for the detection of prion diseases in live animals or humans. FISH ANYONE!!!......
Since the initial reported outbreak of "mad cow disease" (a form of a prion disease) in England in 1995, there has been a steady increase in the number of infected cows throughout Europe. The United States government is very concerned about the spread of this disease. "It has enormous ramifications for the US with respect to potentially dangerous diseases spreading into the public, says Michael Scott, associate professor of pathology at the University of California, San Francisco."
The USDA, with the cooperation of the State of Vermont, has imposed a quarantine on three flocks of sheep imported into this country from Belgium and the Netherlands in 1998. Some of these sheep are infected with the prion infectious agent that causes scrapie, a prion disease in sheep. Over 2,000 pounds of potentially infected meat had been sold to the public prior to the imposition of the quarantine. Astoundingly, the owners of these sheep have resisted the USDA's efforts, notwithstanding an offer by the USDA of close to $7,000/sheep to prevent their sale to the public...this disease seems to be spreading!!!
The prion diseases (spongiform encephalopathies; vacuolation of the cerebral gray matter, among other clinical manifestations) are a group of neurodegenerative fatal diseases in humans and other animals. The human diseases can be sporadic, inherited, or acquired, and include Creutzfeld-Jakob disease (CJD), Gerstmann-Straussler-Scheinker disease, fatal familial insomnia, and Kuru. Kuru is found among the Fore linguistic group in New Guinea. Infected individuals were usually involved in the preparation of a body (including the brains) for ritualistic cannibalism.
Prion disease is also found in sheep (scrapie), mink, mule deer, Rocky Mountain elk, nyala, gemsbok, cheetah, domestic cats, and cattle [bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), "mad cow disease"]. The disease is associated with the altered expression of a gene (codon 129); specifically the accumulation, in infected brains, of an abnormal form (PrPSc) of a cellular glycoprotein (PrPC). This cellular protein may regulate Copper levels in neurons. The disregulation of Copper may result in reactive oxygen molecules involved in the oxidative damage present both in Alzheimer's and Prion disease. In some transmissible spongiform encephalopathies in humans, there are accumulations of extracellular amyloid plaques; also PrP, in association with Alzheimer's protein, in muscle tissue. The highest titer of the infectious agent, prions, is found in brain tissue.
Prion disease can be experimentally transmitted within and between mammalian species by inoculation or ingestion of infected tissue. The increase in frequency, in 1995 in England, of sporadic CJD is thought to have been caused by ingestion of food infected with the prion associated with BSE. BSE has now spread throughout Europe.
Since the 1940's meat-and-bone meal had been added to cattle feed to "enrich" the animals diet. The "meat" included animal tissue, offal, that had been discarded by the slaughter house; until 1989, homogenates from cattle brains were used in the preparation of hamburgers and sausages. Also, fetal calf serum is used in all tissue culture laboratories, including those involved in human vaccine development, posing an additional risk for the introduction of this disease into human populations through vaccination.
Prion Diseases in humans are rare. However, the continued spread of the prion infectious agent in cattle throughout Europe and other countries, the importation of prion infected sheep into this country, evidence that Prion Disease can be transmitted via blood transfusions, and now, the spread of this disaese agent to cattle in this country is alarming! Also, with Alzheimer's Disease there is also the accumulation of amyloid plaque within the cerebrum resulting as well in neurogenerative damage. The mechanism of propagation is similar to that in Prion Disease; there are structural similarities in the amyloids of Alzheimer's Disease and amyloidogenic prion fragments. Alzheimer's Disease seems to have become a major health concern over the past 10 years. Most of the research directed at understanding the etiology of this disease is focused on genetics....looking for the gene that causes this disease. The inheritance pattern, if any, of Alzheimer's Disease has not been determined. While a single gene, or a few genes, may be involved in this disease, we need to determine the relationship of diet to a consistent pattern of gene expression in individuals with Alzheimer's Disease.......more information on this topic