The Madness of Mad Cow Policy

[bossel]

I thought the mad cow had to do with prions and cattle being fed with infected cows...didn't know it was an actual virus....

You are right, it's not a virus but mutated prions that cause the disease: "through physical contact, the mutated prion protein (called PrPSC) is able to switch the normal version into the mutated form."
from the New Scientist BSE FAQ:
http://www.newscientist.com/hottopics/bse/bsefaq.jsp;jsessionid=AFBIGNDOKOIF

AFAIK, it's also not really as contagious as Rachel wrote, you have to eat contaminated beef to become infected. I think, all humans with vCJD have eaten beef from infected cattle (well, OK, it's not absolutely sure, but most probable). There were theories of other infection ways but none have been proved.

 

[Satori]

More on the Creekstone case ...

THE B.S. OF BUSH'S MAD COW POLICIES

The only thing madder than Mad Cow disease is our government's Mad Cow policies.

Take the case of Creekstone Farms Premium Beef, a small, enterprising company in Kansas that produces top quality beef. To assure both U.S. and foreign buyers that its product is free of Mad Cow disease, Creekstone said that it would exceed USDAs minimal testing standards and pay to have every single one of its cows privately tested.

Great! Who could be against more testing and such innovative entrepreneurship?

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, for one. The big beef lobby for two.

In another case of Bushite bushwa, USDA notified Creekstone that it does not allow private testing, even by certified labs (this from an administration that's privatizing everything from its wars to your water supply). Why? The official rationale is that only the government can assure food safety. But how can testing 100 percent of cows be less safe than USDA's program that inspects less than 1 percent?

The real reason for USDA's intransigence is that the Big Boys of the beef slaughtering world ? Tyson, the National Cattleman's Beef Association, etc.?? don't want to do 100-percent testing themselves, and they want no competition from anyone who does. Their claim is that Creekstone's testing would "mislead" us consumers, for we might think that 100-percent testing produces a safer product.

Aside from the fact that more testing does assure more safety, Creekstone is not even making such a claim. It's only claiming that, indeed, it tests 100 percent of its cows. Then its up to us consumers to decide in the marketplace which beef we prefer. But the Bushites and the big beef lobbyists refuse to allow such consumer choice, declaring that Creekstone cannot advertise that every ounce of it's beef is fully tested.


http://www.jimhightower.com/air/read.asp?id=11340

 

[Hachiko]

Thanks, Playaa. He's been banned at another forum several times on that basis, and that's how he was caught--and it's also how he'll go down again. He uses several computers at a time.

Off-topic from this thread, but I'm glad that's taken care of, whew! :relief:

 

[Satori]

Off-topic from this thread, but I'm glad that's taken care of, whew! :relief:

As you know, Nick aka Hachiko, nothing has been taken care of. In fact, I would appreciate it if you would please stop harassing me by continually trying to discuss this matter and also by trying to send PMs to me when I have made it clear I want nothing to do with you. You need to stop this abuse of me right now.

 

[Hachiko]

As you know, Nick aka Hachiko, nothing has been taken care of. In fact, I would appreciate it if you would please stop harassing me by continually trying to discuss this matter and also by trying to send PMs to me when I have made it clear I want nothing to do with you. You need to stop this abuse of me right now.

LOL...you're really funny, Satori, I'll give you that.

Seriously, I already stopped discussing this matter; my last post was a matter of having closure to this. If you think I'm abusing you in any way, you're off in your own world. And you still do not realize that I am not Nick (i'm really being honest here), so I am convinced that you are stranded in your own world.

If so, I shall stand back then, and leave you in your self-imposed paranoia.

 

[Satori]

LOL...you're really funny, Satori, I'll give you that.

Seriously, I already stopped discussing this matter; my last post was a matter of having closure to this. If you think I'm abusing you in any way, you're off in your own world. And you still do not realize that I am not Nick (i'm really being honest here), so I am convinced that you are stranded in your own world.

If so, I shall stand back then, and leave you in your self-imposed paranoia.

I asked you kindly to stop harassing me and abusing me, and what do you do? You abuse me some more. You need to stop this harassment at once, Nick!! I have told you I will NOT tolerate abuse from you anymore. As I have previously posted, the fact that you are Nick Mojzesz is not something I believe but something I know for a fact, so please stop these stupid games of yours in trying to dupe everyone that you're not Nick. You're not fooling anyone, certainly not me. And I'm sorry if the fact that you've been exposed upsets you, but you have no one to blame but yourself for your current predicament. You should have never followed me around, posting contrary responses to every single post I made. Now you're upset that you've been exposed and want to blame me for that. Well, I'm sorry, but you did that to yourself, Nick.

 

[Rachel]

AFAIK, it's also not really as contagious as Rachel wrote, you have to eat contaminated beef to become infected. I think, all humans with vCJD have eaten beef from infected cattle (well, OK, it's not absolutely sure, but most probable). There were theories of other infection ways but none have been proved.

It IS as contagious as I wrote, but only among cattle and sheep. And the VERY rare cases of human infection from BSE have come from direct contact through a open wound.
There's still alot of debate in the medical community about the human version CJD and how it spreads.

 

[bossel]

It IS as contagious as I wrote, but only among cattle and sheep. And the VERY rare cases of human infection from BSE have come from direct contact through a open wound.
There's still alot of debate in the medical community about the human version CJD and how it spreads.

Sorry, I have to disagree. For what I know, it is not considered to be really contagious. The only known way of infection is through eating contaminated meat/tissue or bone meal. There are other theories but I haven't heard of any acknowledged case.

Maybe there is the possibility of infection through direct blood contact, but apart from the fact that this should really be a rather rare occasion, I haven't heard of any confirmed case either.

CJD is an illness not necessarily directly connected to BSE. Nobody knows where it derives from, maybe from Scrapie-infected sheep. vCJD is the variant that is very probably related to BSE.

BTW, look at Britain: probably a lot of people (maybe millions) have eaten contaminated meat before it was known to be dangerous. Yet you don't find all too many cases of vCJD. Even taken into account the fact that the incubation period is rather long, there should be more cases by now, if it really would be so dangerous.

 

[Rachel]

Sorry, I have to disagree. For what I know, it is not considered to be really contagious. The only known way of infection is through eating contaminated meat or bone meal. There are other theories but I haven't heard of any acknowledged case.

Maybe there is the possibility of infection through direct blood contact, but apart from the fact that this should really be a rather rare occasion, I haven't heard of any confirmed case either.

CJD is an illness not necessarily directly connected to BSE. Nobody knows where it derives from, maybe from Scrapie-infected sheep. vCJD is the variant that is very probably related to BSE.

BTW, look at Britain: probably a lot of people (maybe millions) have eaten contaminated meat before it was known to be dangerous. Yet you don't find all too many cases of vCJD. Even taken into account the fact that the incubation period is rather long, there should be more cases by now, if it really would be so dangerous.

Err... Bossel. If think you might be getting your wires crossed a little honey.
Could you re-read what I said please.
BSE is VERY contagious, but ONLY AMONG SHEEP AND CATTLE !!!

And I don't really know much about CJD, why did you bring CJD up anyway ?

 

[Hachiko]

Satori, I have dismissed your ongoing paranoia and placed you on my ignore list.

 

[bossel]

Err... Bossel. If think you might be getting your wires crossed a little honey.
Could you re-read what I said please.
BSE is VERY contagious, but ONLY AMONG SHEEP AND CATTLE !!!

And I don't really know much about CJD, why did you bring CJD up anyway ?

I got my wires crossed rather often, I think. Not this time though: BSE in cattle is just the same as in humans, for what I know. They need to be fed on contaminated stuff to become infected. If I remember correctly, there is a possibility of spontaneous mutation of prions, but this again should be a rather rare occurrence.

I've seen some websites where BSE is said to be "highly contagious", but usually these sites seem to have exactly the same text, copied from one source. Since BSE is called a viral disease there, this source should be disqualified, anyway.

For what I remember, I didn't bring up CJD, that was you. I think, I was only talking of vCJD, which is (very probably) the human form of BSE, usually (again, very probably) contracted through eating contaminated food.
Yep, in your original post you referred only to cattle & sheep, but that's not where I see the real danger. If it were just like Food-&-Mouth disease, the danger would be only to the animals (well, only? poor creatures!), not to humans.

Hmm, speaking of F&M disease: now that I mentioned it, your post (#18) actually sounds as if you have been talking of F&M, not BSE.

Last post for today. Have to go to bed now. Good night!

 

[Rachel]

:lol: :lol:
I'm so sorry bosssel and every one else. YOUR COMPLETELY RIGHT !
I'm being a blond again ! :lol: I am talking about foot and mouth, which is completely the wrong subject.
:dunce: :homer:
My deepest apologies every one :sorry:

 

[bossel]

Well, no apologies needed, I think. Could happen to anyone.
I should have noticed it earlier, but was too focused on BSE.