Mad Cow Disease, Mad Deer Disease and CJD

. Organic Consumers Association

.. Campaigning for Food Safety, Organic Agriculture, Fair Trade & Sustainability.

Mad Cow Disease / Mad Deer Disease

(Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, Chronic Wasting Disease)

* Mad Cow USA/Canada
* Mad Cow Europe

* CJD
* Foot & Mouth Disease

* Highlighted Articles

Articles reviewed/commented upon by Michael Greger, MD

Send us your email address:

Mad Cow Europe Top

2003 Articles

12/12 Resurgence of mad cow disease in Portugal
11/24 Sudden rise in BSE in Britain alarms scientists
11/13 Japan bans T-bone steak (and rest of cattle backbone)
10/30 UK government to start national tonsil archive to estimate prevalence
10/8 Japan finds possible new type of mad cow disease
9/14 Japan to ban T-bone steaks
8/12 Scientists investigating cow to sheep 'nightmare scenario'
7/10 British BSE testing move 'puts cash before safety'
5/22 Chicken products injected with cow and pig proteins
5/14 Deer stricken much younger than previously suspected
5/3 Irish mad cow inquiry urged
1/5 Outbreak of mad cow disease registered in Southern Russia

2002

12/19 McDonald's posts first loss in history
12/9 Mad cow disease helps Japan's organic movement grow
11/19 'BSE-resistant' sheep succumbs to disease in lab test
11/10 McDonald's 'disastrous year' blamed in part on mad cow
10/31 Patients in CJD blunder facing 20 years of dread
10/26 Hopes are revived for CJD drug
10/22 First human case of mad cow disease found in Italy
10/21 What the government isn't telling you about mad deer disease
10/12 This year worst on record for mad cow disease in Ireland
10/11 Mad cow meat 'went into millions of burgers'
10/11 Danger meat was 'fed to children for up to 15 years'
10/10 Number of mad cows underestimated by almost a million
10/9 German test for mad cow disease effective in 15 minutes
10/6 Builders test use of animal ash in making houses
10/3 France lifts ban on British beef after six-year dispute
10/2 Japanese agriculture minister sued over mad cow disease
9/28 EU: 25 year old woman first victim of mad cow disease in Italy
9/8 Worries remain in Japan over BSE one year later
9/4 Slaughterhouse anti-BSE measures flaunted 16 years later
8/29 Japan Traces Mad Cow Outbreak to Calf Feed
8/26 Europe may ban sheep intestine containing haggis
8/23 Health officials confirm Japan's 5th mad cow disease case
8/9 Noxious byproduct of mad cow disease haunts France
7/22 Mad cow disease blamed for 64 bankrupsies in Japan
6/20 First case of human mad cow disease in South Africa
6/14 Sheep's intestines ban could spell end for British banger
6/5 First case of mad cow confirmed in Israel
5/23 Beef find in Dutch poultry raises mad cow fears
5/15 British government BSE adviser warns about European beef
5/13 Japanese vet commits suicide after detecting fourth mad cow
5/13 New Japan mad cow fear
5/4 First case of mad-cow disease discovered in Poland
4/15 BSE advisers to meet in public in anti-secrecy drive
4/12 France condemned after BSE discovered
4/3 Mad cow report slams Japanese farm ministry
3/29 Continued mad cow rise in Ireland threatens beef trade
3/26 McDonald's stock prices drops for sixth straight quarter
3/25 Scandals cause Japanese to lose their appetites
3/24 Mad cow report incenses Japanese agro-interests
3/18 Cases of BSE-infected cattle rise in Portugal
3/18 Italy has tested over 600,000 animals for mad cow
3/16 France snubs call to end mad cow disease beef ban
3/11 Britain can't sell its beef even after ban is ended
3/9 Mad cow blamed as Japan sinks further into recession
3/3 Japan scandal hits Mcdonald's
3/1 British investigation into feed imports
2/26 Mad cow disease cannot be inherited by calves, study finds
2/22 Japanese meat company to shut down amid labeling scandal
2/18 Review of mad cow history from dean of Brown U Med
2/16 Fourth human fatality in France from mad cow disease
2/16 Government should support consumers, not farmers
2/16 Japanese government mad cow scandal eroded public trust
2/16 Eleven more cases of BSE in past week in Ireland
2/14 Italian bone meal possible cause of Japan's mad cow disease
2/11 Mad cow panic halves beef purchases in Japan
2/5 Support for Japanese leader plunges
2/5 Tokyo reels from latest mad cow disease scandal
2/5 Japan Parliament rejects no-confidence against ag minister
2/4 Tons of beef to be destroyed in Germany after faulty tests
2/4 Cliquey Japanese meat dept kept scam quiet
1/25 Mad cows born after feed curbs cause concern
1/15 Mad cow meat in human food chain
1/6 Concern expressed at high level of Irish mad cow disease
1/6 Older Japanese cows have nowhere to go
1/3 Mad cow disease scare in Japan continues to spread
previous articles

2003

12/19 Worldwide Transfusion fear after UK mad cow death
12/18 Thousands at risk of vCJD from blood transfusion
8/20 Hospitals must step up precautions against 'mad cow' infections
8/7 Mad cow disease kills first human in Italy
7/20 Eye test exposes thousands to CJD risk
7/10 Mad cow disease kills first human in Czech Republic
6/27 Prospects for prion vaccine on horizon
6/16 Is The mad cow timebomb still ticking in the human population?
6/7 Mad cow disease in a pill?
6/5 Glandular supplements may pose greater risk than beef
6/2 Mad cow vaccine on the horizon
5/26 100,000 psi of pressure plus heat reduces infectivity in hot dogs
5/20 vCJD death estimate lowered
5/11 One in every 10 CJD victims was a donor
5/11 New York Times magazine profiles experimental vCJD treatment
4/28 Mad cow disease victim's family blames gelatin
4/25 Prion DNA helps confirm our cannibalistic past
4/6 Link between contaminated blood and human BSE?
3/1 vCJD death rates on the decline?
2/28 Prions found in nasal tissue: New mechanism of infection?
2/28 Latest mortality predictions may be overoptimistic
2/12 Infection threat from hidden strain of BSE
2/10 BSE is 'linked' to sporadic CJD deaths
1/31 Fish could suffer from a version of 'mad cow disease'
1/24 Is this the end of the CJD scare?
1/5 Human mad cow may be linked to infected cow tongue
1/1 vCJD complacency-cause for alarm?
previous articles

Foot & Mouth Disease Top

2002

6/21 Ministers ignored foot and mouth warnings
6/19 Foot and mouth cull 'was barbaric'
6/12 Foot and Mouth outbreak would cost Australia billions
6/1Parallels between Chronic Wasting Disease and Mad Cow
6/1 How Chronic Wasting Disease Developed the Upper Hand
6/1 Will CWD Jump the Species Barrier?
5/31 Farmer convicted of keeping foot and mouth secret
5/13 South Korea steps up mass pig slaughter to contain disease
5/9 'Death and squalor' filmed at foot and mouth farm
5/8 Farmers' 'idleness spread foot and mouth'
5/6 Foot and mouth strikes South Korea
5/5 Failure of Brussels strategy made farm crisis a 'disaster'
4/25 The political parable of Phoenix the calf: A year later
4/20 Bovine TB 'worse than foot-and-mouth'
4/2 Army to handle future outbreaks of foot-and-mouth
3/27 Fight against foot-and-mouth "bigger task than gulf war"
3/23 Admission: foot-and-mouth 'could have been handled better'
3/17 Damning foot and mouth disease report
3/13 'No more pyres for foot and mouth'
3/11 Britain can't sell its beef even after ban is ended2/21 The truth still lies buried in Britain's empty fields
2/20 After the plague: One year later
2/20 Farming at crossroads after foot-and-mouth
2/19 Ruling against public inquiry 'was flawed'
2/19 Has the Government learnt nothing about foot and mouth?
2/19 Animal cull 'based on incorrect assumption'
2/18 Fears of new outbreak still stalk the land
2/18 Secrecy lingers on after list of official blunders
2/17 Brigadier's battle over the foot and mouth cull 2/2 U.S. Ag secretary pledges vigilance
1/31 All-clear from virus fails to stop farms going up in smoke
1/30 Foot and mouth could easily strike the countryside again
1/27 Shoppers tempted to choose organic: A new way of farming
1/23 10 million animals were slaughtered in foot and mouth cull
1/22 Catalogue of failures' over foot and mouth
1/21 Low-tech terror seen as threat to food supply
12/29 World's worst outbreak, with 6m animals killed, has ended
12/1 Devastation in the wake of foot and mouth
11/28 Total cost of epidemic put at (pounds) 2.7 billion
11/20 Was there a better way of dealing with the crisis?
11/13 'Bungling on foot and mouth was the worst'
11/12 How foot and mouth is fuelled by computers, cluelessness
11/4 Field day for the animal killers
10/30 Letter to the Editor: An epidemic of evasion
10/21 Britain's foxhunts are facing a financial crisis
10/19 MP: Let farmers ruined by foot-and-mouth grow cannabis
10/14 Rural businesses to sue for billions over foot and mouth
10/14 Foot and mouth epidemic farm virus policy was chaos
10/13 Pyres fallout spread disease, says vet
10/7 Ministry asks schools to take beef products off lunch menu
10/4 Million animals 'could have been spared the cull'
9/27 New foot-and-mouth outbreak hits Cumbria
9/25 Foot and mouth cure 'was worse than disease' says report
9/9 Foot and mouth might have come from Africa in a dust storm
9/8 Expert warns of international foot and mouth epidemic
9/8 Will hunting survive foot and mouth epidemic?
9/4 British foot and mouth epidemic is now world's worst
8/22 Farmers warn of milk shortage due to foot and mouth
8/20 No end in sight to foot-and-mouth as slaughter continues
8/20 Thousands protest six months of slaughter down on the farm
8/16 Farmers' leader blames BBC helicopters for epidemic
8/13 Cull let-up could double new cases
8/12 Review of selected foot and mouth disease press coverage
8/12 Questions for foot and mouth disease inquiry
8/11 Hundreds caught flouting foot and mouth measures
8/11 Lessons from previous foot and mouth epidemic ignored
8/11 Foot-and-mouth shuts up to half UK's slaughterhouses
8/6 Chancellor wants farmers to shoulder burden in future
8/6 'Don't give [farmers] another penny in subsidies.'
8/2 1.5 million healthy lambs face slaughter
7/31 Foot and mouth disease 'war zone' declared
7/30 Farmers 'infecting livestock to claim compensation'
7/30 Britain's foot-and-mouth epidemic refuses to die out
7/28 Army's carcass dump blamed for latest outbreak
7/27 How the epidemic defied all predictions
7/24 Autumn could see the return of foot-and-mouth carnage
7/24 Farmers' abusing government clean-up scheme
7/22 Millions of lambs now to be culled
7/22 RSPCA horror warning over foot and mouth virus
7/21 Prince Charles calls for organic future
7/15 National Hog Farmer magazine's take on foot and mouth
7/14 Foot and mouth disease as bioterrorism threat
7/8 Foot and mouth: vaccination the answer, says EU
7/5 Farmers warned to remain cautious of foot and mouth epidemic
7/5 Farmers blamed over foot and mouth epidemic
7/2 Delays 'doubled' the foot and mouth toll
7/1 U.S. county fair and petting zoo "biosecurity measures"
7/1 Foot and mouth epidemic cost in the billions
6/28 Three cull workers contract rare disease Q fever
6/28 Blair offers a 'proper' inquiry into epidemic
6/26 Foot and mouth disease epidemic drags on
6/23 Half the footpaths in Britain still out of bounds
6/22 Cancer chemical PCBs found in eggs
6/22 Star of Babe saved from slaughter
6/21 Pressure grows for foot-and-mouth inquiry
6/18 Fears grow that second wave of disease may sweep UK
6/15 Foot-and-mouth false alarm impacts New Zealand dollar
6/13 Bill would make infection of livestock a felony
6/12 The British Government's response to foot and mouth
6/11 Children stressed over foot and mouth
6/10 Destructive farming practices blamed for foot and mouth.
6/10 New foot and mouth epidemic threatens
6/6 Keep eye on PeTA activist, lawmaker tells U.S.
6/2 New fear on foot and mouth cases
6/1 MAFF knew of BSE risk before cattle burials
5/31 First wave of foot and mouth was worst in world
5/26 Hidden cases double foot and mouth toll
5/25 Foot-and-mouth sparks organics surge
5/25 U.S. Relaxes Foot-and-Mouth Ban on EU Meat Imports
5/25 PETA welcomes foot-and-mouth disease
5/25 Many hope foot-and-mouth ends intensive farming
5/25 New foot-and-mouth scare over 'cancer link' dairy products
5/22 New cases spark fresh foot-and-mouth alert
5/20 Foot and mouth slaughter toll hits a new high
5/20 'Killing by stealth' hides true scale of slaughter
5/19 Food Scares Fuel Double-Digit Organics Expansion
5/18 Governor Reveals 'War' Preparations
5/18 Damning report 'fiercely' criticizes handling of mad cow
1922 Vet contracts serious case of foot and mouth
1998 USDA says foot and mouth virus can survive pasteurization
4/23 Cancer fear from animal pyre chemicals
previous article

Highlighted Articles Top

2003

12/30 Other Nations 'Way Ahead' of United States
12/30 United States 'Sitting on a Time Bomb"
12/30 Nobel Laureate: Test Every Cow in the U.S.
12/29 Mad Cow: Linked to Thousands of Human Deaths?
12/29 USDA Making 'Gargantuan Error'
12/29 USDA Urged to Deploy Rapid Mad Cow Test
12/29 Evidence Exists that Muscle Meat May Be Infectious
12/29 Feds Lag Badly on Mad Cow Disease Shields
12/29 Lax Rules and Testing Put Public, Cattle Industry at Risk
12/28 Los Angeles Times calls for Strengthened Safeguards
12/28 Harvard Expert Would Eat Cow Meat 'Only if Starving'
12/28 Mad Cow Precautions Might Be 'Too Little Too Late'
12/28 Current Safeguards Lacking, Critics Say
12/27 Public likely ate suspect cow meat
12/27 Enforcement of Feed 'Ban' Criticized Years Ago
12/27 FDA Blasted Over Past Enforcement of Feed Ban
12/27 U.S. Mad Cow Link Questioned in Creutzfeldt-Jakob Cases
12/27 Risky Tissue Getting into Beef Supply, Studies Show
12/27 Disease Could Have Spread to Thousands of Cattle
12/26 Britons Fear Over Imported U.S. Blood
12/26 Mad Cow 'Probably Tip of the Iceberg'
12/26 GOP Congress Scuttled Mad Cow Protections
12/26 Government To Consider Greater Meat Testing
12/25 Nervous Tissue Found in a Third of Processed Meat Samples
12/25 Downer Cow Ban Defeat Blamed on Greed
12/25 Critics Warn of 'Deadly Flaws' in Feed Standards
12/25 Downer Cows Should Be Euthanized Not Eaten
12/25 Nobel Laureate Mad Cow Expert Prusiner Criticizes USDA
12/24 Oprah Winfrey Guest Speaks Out (Audio)
12/24 Call to Stop Weaning Calves on Cow Blood
12/24 Beef Industry "Firewall" was 'wishful thinking'
12/24 False Statements Made by USDA Officials
12/24 Friend of the Earth Calls for FDA Investigation
12/24 USDA Misleading American Public about Beef Safety
12/24 Could this First Case Signal an Epidemic?
12/24 'Avoid Ground Beef...' Counsels Food Safety Expert
12/24 Mad Cow USA: The Nightmare Is Here
12/23 USDA Refused to Release Mad Cow Records
12/23 Humans Eating Downer Cows
11/12 Canada's Mad Cow Advice 'Hypocritical'
11/6 CJD Prions Found in Human Muscle Tissue
9/22 Young American Dying of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease
9/17 Premier: Rancher Should Have 'Shot, Shovelled, Shut Up'
9/11 Chronic Wasting Disease May Lurk in Wisconsin's Soil
9/10 Is mad cow lurking in U.S. freezers?
9/7 Chronic Wasting Disease More Contagious Than Once Thought
8/26 Commentary on a USDA BSE News Release
8/17 It's Still a Cow Eat Cow World
8/12 Scientists investigating cow to sheep 'nightmare scenario'
8/12 Consumer Groups: USDA Prioritizes Trade Over Public Health
7/29 More Canadian Cows May Be Infected
7/17 Public Citizen Urges USDA to Maintain Canada Ban
7/9 Critics Urge USDA to Employ Mad Cow Rapid Tests
7/4 Canadian Mad Cow May Have Come from the United States
7/1: Industry Opposes Mad Cow Regulations
6/15 Wisconsin's Eradication Plan May Be Doomed to Fail
6/12 Countering Government Spin on Mad Cow Disease
6/10 Consumer Advocates Demand Tighter Mad Cow Regulations
6/10 Time for the USDA and the FDA to "Bite the Bullet"
6/9 Canada, U.S. Likely Have More Mad Cow Cases-Expert
6/8 There 'Must' be More Cases of Mad Cow in North America
6/5 Downed Cows and Mad Cow Disease
6/3 U.S. Efforts to Contain Mad Cow Disease Fall Short
6/1 Scientist calls for complete animal to animal feed ban
5/31 U.S. ban on Canadian beef 'ludicrous' public relations 'charade'
5/31 Mad Cow Disease "Likely" To Be In United States As Well
5/29 Canadian government's mad cow reassurances 'infuriating'
5/29 Cost Cutting Blamed for Canadian Mad Cow Disease
5/29 U.S. mad cow firewall 'more like a white picket fence'
5/29 U.S. Consumers Could Be Eating Infected Beef
5/27 Canadians May Already be 'Dying from Eating Infected Beef'
5/27: New York Times: U.S. Government Not Doing Enough to Protect Public
5/27 Wall Street Journal: Beef Industry's Dirty Secret
5/25 Complacency is real killer in mad cow
5/26 Mad Cow Discovery in North America Was Only a Matter of Time
5/23 Nobel Scientist Describes U.S. Mad Cow Disease Surveillance as 'Appalling'
5/22 No 'Guarantee' that American Beef is Safe
5/22 Mad cow in Canada 'was a problem just waiting to happen
5/21 U.S. Imported a Billion Pounds of Beef from Canada Last Year
5/21 Canadian Mad Cow May Have Been Fed to Chickens and Pigs
5/20 Mad Cow Disease Hitting Canada 'Potentially Devastating' for Industry
5/20 Last Year the U.S. Imported a Half Million Cattle from Canada
4/22 Whitetail does may roam more than expected, spreading disease
4/9 Three more Hunters Die of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease
4/5 Fears Grow Over 'Mad Elk Disease'
4/4 Activist Fears the Worst of CWD is Yet to Come
4/1 Nasal Secretions 'Could be Infectious'
3/30 Families of U.S. CJD Victims Speak Out
2/13 South Carolina Man May Have Died of 'Mad Cow Disease'
2/10 BSE is 'linked' to sporadic CJD deaths
1/21 USDA Eliciting Comments on Downer Cow Risk Reduction
1/11 FDA Considering Tighter Restrictions On Animal Feed

Glossary Top

Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy (TSE): A family of progressive, incurable, fatal diseases caused by prions. Characterized by dementia, and holes in the brain on autopsy. Can be transmitted between mammals when one mammal eats parts of the nervous system (e.g., brain, spinal cord) of another mammal.
Prion: Prion: (pronounced pree-on) Novel infectious agent common to these diseases. Not a virus or bacterium, but an infectious protein which can set off a chain reaction which destroys nerve cells. They cannot be inactivated by most sterilization methods.
Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE): The technical name for Mad Cow Disease - the TSE found in cattle. The form of BSE found in European cattle is probably not the same as that in US cattle.
Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD): A human TSE. The classic form of CJD appears to arise spontaneously, but the so-called "new variant" of CJD (nvCJD) is now known to be the human equivalent of mad cow disease thought to be contracted by eating contaminated beef.
Kuru: Another human TSE, found in Pacific Islanders who ate human brains.
Scrapie: The TSE found in sheep. The probable source of all other animal TSEs.
Downer cow: US industry term for an animal who falls down and dies without an apparent disease. Some people speculate that some US downer cows have a form of BSE with different symptoms from the British form of BSE.

Links Top

Mad Deer site - http://www.maddeer.org/
Yahoo's Mad Cow news page
Mad Cow Disease discussion with Terry Singeltary
Official Mad Cow Disease Archive Worldwide news articles sorted by topic but not labeled by date or country. 8000+ articles March 2001 and earlier on mad cow and Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease, prions, bovine spongiform encephalopathy, scrapie, BSE, CJD, and TSE.
Feb/01- For an overview, see The Why Files
1998 article from The Atlantic Monthly
CJD Watch (International) - Tracking Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease victims.
Read about and buy "Mad Cowboy: Plain Truth from the Cattle Rancher Who Won't Eat Meat," by Howard Lyman.
Book: "Mad Cow USA" - About the book / Reviews / order it - Available Free Online

Michael Greger, MD, is a graduate of the Cornell University School of
Agriculture and the Tufts University School of Medicine. Dr. Greger
has been speaking publically about mad cow disease since 1993. He
debated National Cattlemen's Beef Association Director Gary Weber
before the FDA and was invited as an expert witness at the Oprah
Winfrey trial. He has contributed to many books and articles on the
subject and continues to lecture extensively. Dr. Greger can be
contacted at 857-928-2778, or by email, mhg1@cornell.edu and
and his website is www.veganMD.org