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Re: [RC] OT - Mad Cow Disease in WA State - DESERTRYDR1

Mike and others, it IS possible for a case of BSE to pop up in one cow in an 
otherwise clean area.  It happened in Canada.  The disease is caused by a 
prion, which is basically a protein gone bad.  It replicates in brain and 
neural 
tissue, and destroys it.  I work for a local health department in Eastern WA.  
We are fairly close to the problem, about 50 miles away.  It really caught us 
by surprise, and we were getting phone calls about it before we even got a 
press release, which we usually get first.  This morning our Regional 
Epidemiologist called a meeting and we discussed the situation.  There is a lot 
more that 
is NOT know about the methods of travel of the prions.  There is a human 
variant that is hereditary.  It is also spread by processing brain and neural 
tissue into animal feeds then feeding it back to the same species.  As far as I 
was told this morning, that practice has been stopped since the big scares in 
Great britain.  I do know that sheep that die are NOT accepted by the local 
rendering plant due to concerns about scrapie, which is the similar disease in 
sheep.  Scrapie is present in sheep in this country.  Also, Wasting disease, a 
similar disease of elk and deer, is in this country.  It was introduced by 
farmed elk.  

There have been cases of spontaneous CJD (the human variant) and so I see no 
reason why there should not be spontaneous cases in cattle.  Also possibly 
hereditary cases.  The cow that was involved was 12 yrs. old, fairly old for 
cattle.  So far it's history has not been released.  We will know a lot more in 
a 
week or two.  

There is already in place, and at work, a team of experts, vets, etc that are 
working on the possible cause of this case.  Also, the whole herd the cow 
came from will be destroyed and tested.  Also any cattle that came into 
contact,etc.  The Mabton/Sunnyside area of WA has a LOT of cattle, as there is 
a major 
feedlot in Sunnyside.  Instead of getting alarmist or flip about the 
situation, be glad it doesn't affect horses, and be glad it hasn't affected 
your 
livelyhood, YET.  

It's amazing the different view we who are actually involved (and I am 
involved only to the point of getting first hand info so I can answer questions 
from 
the general public) have a totally different viewpoint than some of those who 
get their news from the TV or newspaper, or even the net.  

I personally do not eat a lot of beef, but this won't stop me, because i see 
the work going on.   As C Newell posted, that's why they are trying so hard to 
get a system in place to track animals sold for food, and animals that can 
carry zoonotic diseases.  (Sorry that's a very loose paraphrase, I deleted the 
post)  I have a lot more confidence in the people working on these problems, 
because I work with them on a daily basis.  jeri

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