Is Mad Cow Disease Headed Our Way?

For years the European community has been living in fear of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, or as it is popularly called, Mad Cow Disease. Nearly 100 people in Great Britain have died from this particularly devastating illness, a variant of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), and there have been deaths reported in other locations as well. Fortunately, no deaths have been reported on the North American continent, but fears still are present that we are not immune rom its spread.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has attempted to tell the public that due to their stringent regulatory program that this was impossible and former Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman classified the concerns of consumers as "Hysteria" as late as last November. Now however, a report on MSNBC indicates that his characterization of the seriousness of this threat may have been understated. According to their report, "America’s safeguards and surveillance efforts are far weaker than most people realize."

The problem with the U.S. system of inspection is simple. The FDA and the USDA only searches for the disease in cows referred to as "downers", which are non-amulatory. So far, no cases have been found in these cattle, however Germany at one point used this same procedure and when they finally began testing cows that appeared healthy, they began to find signs of the illness. As a result, the increased testing has found 30 cases within that country. Is it possible that expanded testing in the United States and Canada would yield similar results? From all indications, the answer is yes.

Many consumers believe that they are safe from contamination if they cook their beef completely, keep it frozen until it is ready to be used, and use other precautions. In reality, however, these measures do absolutely no good in killing the cause of the condition, Prions. That is because Prions are not germs, they are instead naturally occurring proteins which have been affected and are invisible to our immune systems. Nobel Prize winning scientist Stanley Prusiner indicates that his research shows that the disease is present in the United States, it just hasn't been found yet.

There is no cure for this disease. There is no preventative measure that can be taken, short of not eating meat. Each of us must weigh the potential risks with the benefits of meat in our diet and make a decision. To eat meat or not. The choice is yours.

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