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News on Mad Cow and Chronic Wasting Disease
Mad Cow Disease, or Bovine Spongiform Encepholopathy (BSE), is a progressive neurological disorder of cattle that can be transmitted to other species, including humans. Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) is a comparable Transmissible Spongiform Encepholopathy (TSE) that infects deer, elk, and moose. CWD has now spread across much of the USA, infecting thousands of animals and potentially exposing hunters and consumers of venison to CWD, a fatal brain-wasting illness. The human equivalent of these diseases, (CJD) Cruetzfeldt-Jakob Disease, linked to consumption of TSE-contaminated meat or blood, causes memory loss, emotional instability, severe dementia and death, often within a year.
Cases of Mad Cow Disease occur in the U.S. each year, yet regulators only test a tiny percentage of the 32 million cattle slaughtered annually. In Europe, all older cattle are tested for Mad Cow Disease, and in Japan every cow slaughtered for human consumption is tested. Similarly most deer, elk, and moose, are killed and consumed with no testing for CWD required.
We demand that the U.S. government adopt and enforce mandatory testing for all cattle brought to slaughter and a ban on feeding blood, manure, and slaughterhouse waste to animals. In addition all deer, elk, and moose need to be tested before they are consumed by humans.
Heather Swanson and Ryan Prioreschi stand in knee-high golden grass on a slope outside Boulder, Colorado, where the Rocky Mountains start slumping into the plains, at the epicenter of a now-international animal epidemic. The two ecologists, who monitor wildlife for the city, have their binoculars out, and they’re staring right at the problem.
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If you live in an urban area, should you be concerned about the spread of chronic wasting disease (CWD) in U.S. deer herds?
CWD has caused hundreds of captive deer to be euthanized on commercial deer farms in Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa and Pennsylvania. The disease has also spread to non-captive (wild) deer herds.
CWD hasn’t been widely publicized. So it’s no surprise that many people, whether they live in rural or urban areas, are unaware of the issue. But among those urban dwellers who are aware, there’s often little concern—because most people think CWD affects only rural areas, namely hunters and Departments of Natural Resources (DNRs) that depend on hunting licenses for revenue.
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Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) is a fatal brain disorder that destroys brain cells, causing tiny holes in the brain. Symptoms of CJD are ataxia, or difficulty controlling body movements, abnormal gait and speech, and dementia. The disease is always fatal and has no cure. CJD is one of several transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs).
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RECOMMENDED BOOKS
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On December 23, 2003, Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman shocked the world with her announcement that mad cow disease was in America. Authors Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber were not surprised. Their 1997 book, Mad Cow USA revealed that the livestock industry and the government had failed to take the necessary steps to prevent this deadly dementia from emerging in animals and humans in the US. In this newly updated edition covering the arrival of Mad Cow Disease in the U.S., Rampton and Stauber cover the terrifying new ground since the first edition. -
In the tradition of Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle" and Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring," an alarming exposé about the beef industry that could change the way you eat forever... -
Howard Lyman, who told the story of his transition from cattle rancher to vegetarian in Mad Cowboy, exposes the flimsy lies sustaining the meat industry in this new volume. With an update on the Mad Cow threat, an eye-opening discussion of the link between Alzheimer's and meat consumption, and a raucus dissection of the folly of high-protein diets, No More Bull! makes the case for a plant-based diet as clearly and powerfully as it's ever been made.
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