Robert Baird
Paranormal Maven
A Santa Clara University website says there is no link between GM foods and Mad Cow (Bovine encephalopathy has varied different types). But there is a definite difference of opinion and lots of health officials who appear to be told not to discuss the debate with lay people. The excerpt below is dated and a case of Mad Cow has been found in the US.
"Friday, October 22, 1999 By ROBERTA SCRUGGS, Staff Writer Blethen Maine Newspapers
Federal veterinarians will collect brain samples from 300 deer in western Maine next month as part of a nationwide investigation into a rare, but fatal, brain disease in humans.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was looking for any link between three young victims of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. All three had eaten deer or elk meat, and one of them, a 28-year-old woman, had eaten meat from a deer taken near Rangeley in the 1970s. From that tenuous tie, the study in Maine began.
"It's a jigsaw puzzle and they just have to get all the pieces," said Henry Hilton, a wildlife biologist at the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.
Creutzfeldt-Jakob, which strikes about one person per million, is part of a family of diseases, called transmissible spongiform encephalopathy, that do similar damage to the brains of different mammals � deer, sheep, cattle, mink and humans. But they are different diseases, specific to each animal. In deer, it's called chronic wasting disease and there's no evidence it's ever been transmitted to humans, said Kathleen Gensheimer, state epidemiologist in Maine.
It's extremely rare even in deer. So far it's been found in only one place in the world � a corner of southeastern Wyoming and northeastern Colorado. About 4,500 deer have been tested for the disease elsewhere, from New Jersey to California, but all the tests have been negative.
"We all doubt very, very, very much that we even have chronic wasting disease among deer in Maine," Gensheimer said.
But it's not the deer disease that primarily concerns the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and state agencies. The CDC is tracking Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), which became notorious in 1996 when the British government announced a possible link between it and the version found in cattle, which became known as mad cow disease. A new variant of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease has now claimed more than 40 lives in Great Britain and France. It's much more likely to strike younger people than the traditional form of the disease, which is mainly found in those over 55, Gensheimer said.
There have be no cases of that variant reported in the United States, Gensheimer said. Nor has there been any sign of mad cow disease in cattle here, according to Mike Marshall, state veterinarian for Utah.
But because of the heightened concern, any cases of CJD that strike a young person are thoroughly investigated. In addition to the victim who had eaten deer meat from Maine and elk meat from out West, there were two victims who had eaten elk or deer meat from Utah or Oklahoma, where deer studies also are being conducted.
"CDC is just trying to be thorough in their investigations of some of these unusual Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease cases that have been presented to them the last few years," said Michael Miller, state veterinarian in Colorado. Unlike mad cow disease, though, there is no evidence that the deer disease can be transmitted to people. Even where chronic wasting disease exists in Colorado and Wyoming, there has been no sign that the incidence of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease has increased, state officials said.
"The only connection is that those two diseases are both part of a whole family of diseases," Miller said. "But it's similar in my mind to the relationship between canine distemper and measles in people. The viruses that cause distemper and measles are both in the same family of viruses, but they cause very different diseases. . . . Dogs don't get measles and people don't get distemper."
Chronic wasting disease was first discovered in 1967 among captive animals at a Colorado wildlife research center. Over time, it also was found in the wild, affecting Rocky Mountain elk, mule deer, white-tailed deer which make up Maine's deer herd and black-tailed deer. It has spread slowly, Miller said, but affects about 5 percent of the roughly 62,000 deer in the infected area, between Cheyenne, Wyo., and Fort Collins, Colo.
Although the incubation period of the human form of the disease may be many years, in deer it only lasts 18 to 36 months, Miller said. In the late stages, sick animals can be spotted by those familiar with the disease, but in earlier stages deer may simply look skinny. There is no way to treat the disease, Miller said, and no way to make a sure diagnosis until the animal is dead and the brain tissue can be studied.
In the past 30 years, many people have hunted, handled and eaten infected deer with no apparent consequences, said Tom Thorne, former state veterinarian in Wyoming. "And I'm one of them," Thorne said. "I guess we're an on-going experiment. And I'm not worried."
Although Wyoming and Colorado hunters have received plenty of information about the disease, they continue to hunt in the infected area and eat elk and deer meat, Thorne and Miller said.
"In public meetings with hundreds of sportsmen," Miller said, "chronic wasting disease hasn't come up as an issue at all. What they're really wanting to know is what we're going to do to get more deer out there." [Miller's department draws 51% of its income from sale of hunting tags to non-residents -- webmaster.]
A big concern for Maine health and wildlife officials is that hunters and those who eat venison could be frightened by the study. Gensheimer said they hope to develop a brochure that stresses two main points: It's very unlikely that Maine deer have chronic wasting disease, and there's no evidence the disease would have any effect on people who consume venison. But she and wildlife officials also emphasize that it's just common sense not to kill or eat a deer that looks sick.
Gensheimer also said that there's no indication of unusual levels of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in Maine. With a population of 1.2 million people, Maine has one or two cases a year, she said, which is about average. But she stops short of saying Mainers have nothing to worry about."
http://www.mad-cow.org/oct99_vlate_news.html
From further down in the above link which left the reader thinking there is no reason to worry about humans getting any form of Mad Cow – we have.
”Beef brain sandwiches feared link to CJD death in Indiana
Paul Harvey radio report; also October 10, 1999 edition of Evansville Courier & Press by Roberta Heiman tel 812-464-7432
“EVANSVILLE – A 68 year old man who had a fondness for beef-brain sandwiches may have died this summer after contracting “mad cow disease” a local forensic pathologist says. Francis Will died July 10 after suffering form months from symptoms of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), a rare and fatal brain disorder related to what become known in Britain as mad cow disease.
Woll’s relatives believe he contracted the disease by eating beef-brain sandwiches, which are a local delicacy brought to the region years ago by German immigrants.
“My father lived 11 months after the first noticeable symptoms,” said Vicki Chandler of St. Louis, one of Will’s three daughters. “He had always been so healthy. In the 37 years he worked at Bristol (Brisol-Myers Squibb), he missed one day.”
Forensic pathologist John Heidingsfelder also suspects that Will may have died from a form of the CJD. He said within the last year he has seen three suspected cases, one confirmed by autopsy, in the region.
[A family member wrote this web site on 16 Oct 99 giving permission and encouragement for dissemination of this story. The reporter who wrote the story was said to have been issued a warning by the cattle association not to print any further articles; a deer hunter may also be dying of a TSE about 20 miles from Indiana victim’s home. Autopsy reports are not back yet; Ghetti and Gambetti are apparently the principal investigators involved in characterizing the cause of death. Even if the death is confirmed as CJD, no evidentiary link is established thereby to the beef brain sandwiches. While most Americans do not eat these, there are also a great many other German immigrants in the US.
This case is unlikely to be nvCJD because the UK strain of BSE is not plausbily present in Indiana beef brain. It is not known how other strains of BSE would manifest themselves pathologically or if they even exist at significant levels. Other dietary, medical, and genetic risk factors would also have to be evaluated. One thing has been affirmed: the American public is very suspicious of possible dietary exposure to TSE . — webmaster] “
"Friday, October 22, 1999 By ROBERTA SCRUGGS, Staff Writer Blethen Maine Newspapers
Federal veterinarians will collect brain samples from 300 deer in western Maine next month as part of a nationwide investigation into a rare, but fatal, brain disease in humans.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was looking for any link between three young victims of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. All three had eaten deer or elk meat, and one of them, a 28-year-old woman, had eaten meat from a deer taken near Rangeley in the 1970s. From that tenuous tie, the study in Maine began.
"It's a jigsaw puzzle and they just have to get all the pieces," said Henry Hilton, a wildlife biologist at the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.
Creutzfeldt-Jakob, which strikes about one person per million, is part of a family of diseases, called transmissible spongiform encephalopathy, that do similar damage to the brains of different mammals � deer, sheep, cattle, mink and humans. But they are different diseases, specific to each animal. In deer, it's called chronic wasting disease and there's no evidence it's ever been transmitted to humans, said Kathleen Gensheimer, state epidemiologist in Maine.
It's extremely rare even in deer. So far it's been found in only one place in the world � a corner of southeastern Wyoming and northeastern Colorado. About 4,500 deer have been tested for the disease elsewhere, from New Jersey to California, but all the tests have been negative.
"We all doubt very, very, very much that we even have chronic wasting disease among deer in Maine," Gensheimer said.
But it's not the deer disease that primarily concerns the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and state agencies. The CDC is tracking Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), which became notorious in 1996 when the British government announced a possible link between it and the version found in cattle, which became known as mad cow disease. A new variant of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease has now claimed more than 40 lives in Great Britain and France. It's much more likely to strike younger people than the traditional form of the disease, which is mainly found in those over 55, Gensheimer said.
There have be no cases of that variant reported in the United States, Gensheimer said. Nor has there been any sign of mad cow disease in cattle here, according to Mike Marshall, state veterinarian for Utah.
But because of the heightened concern, any cases of CJD that strike a young person are thoroughly investigated. In addition to the victim who had eaten deer meat from Maine and elk meat from out West, there were two victims who had eaten elk or deer meat from Utah or Oklahoma, where deer studies also are being conducted.
"CDC is just trying to be thorough in their investigations of some of these unusual Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease cases that have been presented to them the last few years," said Michael Miller, state veterinarian in Colorado. Unlike mad cow disease, though, there is no evidence that the deer disease can be transmitted to people. Even where chronic wasting disease exists in Colorado and Wyoming, there has been no sign that the incidence of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease has increased, state officials said.
"The only connection is that those two diseases are both part of a whole family of diseases," Miller said. "But it's similar in my mind to the relationship between canine distemper and measles in people. The viruses that cause distemper and measles are both in the same family of viruses, but they cause very different diseases. . . . Dogs don't get measles and people don't get distemper."
Chronic wasting disease was first discovered in 1967 among captive animals at a Colorado wildlife research center. Over time, it also was found in the wild, affecting Rocky Mountain elk, mule deer, white-tailed deer which make up Maine's deer herd and black-tailed deer. It has spread slowly, Miller said, but affects about 5 percent of the roughly 62,000 deer in the infected area, between Cheyenne, Wyo., and Fort Collins, Colo.
Although the incubation period of the human form of the disease may be many years, in deer it only lasts 18 to 36 months, Miller said. In the late stages, sick animals can be spotted by those familiar with the disease, but in earlier stages deer may simply look skinny. There is no way to treat the disease, Miller said, and no way to make a sure diagnosis until the animal is dead and the brain tissue can be studied.
In the past 30 years, many people have hunted, handled and eaten infected deer with no apparent consequences, said Tom Thorne, former state veterinarian in Wyoming. "And I'm one of them," Thorne said. "I guess we're an on-going experiment. And I'm not worried."
Although Wyoming and Colorado hunters have received plenty of information about the disease, they continue to hunt in the infected area and eat elk and deer meat, Thorne and Miller said.
"In public meetings with hundreds of sportsmen," Miller said, "chronic wasting disease hasn't come up as an issue at all. What they're really wanting to know is what we're going to do to get more deer out there." [Miller's department draws 51% of its income from sale of hunting tags to non-residents -- webmaster.]
A big concern for Maine health and wildlife officials is that hunters and those who eat venison could be frightened by the study. Gensheimer said they hope to develop a brochure that stresses two main points: It's very unlikely that Maine deer have chronic wasting disease, and there's no evidence the disease would have any effect on people who consume venison. But she and wildlife officials also emphasize that it's just common sense not to kill or eat a deer that looks sick.
Gensheimer also said that there's no indication of unusual levels of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in Maine. With a population of 1.2 million people, Maine has one or two cases a year, she said, which is about average. But she stops short of saying Mainers have nothing to worry about."
http://www.mad-cow.org/oct99_vlate_news.html
From further down in the above link which left the reader thinking there is no reason to worry about humans getting any form of Mad Cow – we have.
”Beef brain sandwiches feared link to CJD death in Indiana
Paul Harvey radio report; also October 10, 1999 edition of Evansville Courier & Press by Roberta Heiman tel 812-464-7432
“EVANSVILLE – A 68 year old man who had a fondness for beef-brain sandwiches may have died this summer after contracting “mad cow disease” a local forensic pathologist says. Francis Will died July 10 after suffering form months from symptoms of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), a rare and fatal brain disorder related to what become known in Britain as mad cow disease.
Woll’s relatives believe he contracted the disease by eating beef-brain sandwiches, which are a local delicacy brought to the region years ago by German immigrants.
“My father lived 11 months after the first noticeable symptoms,” said Vicki Chandler of St. Louis, one of Will’s three daughters. “He had always been so healthy. In the 37 years he worked at Bristol (Brisol-Myers Squibb), he missed one day.”
Forensic pathologist John Heidingsfelder also suspects that Will may have died from a form of the CJD. He said within the last year he has seen three suspected cases, one confirmed by autopsy, in the region.
[A family member wrote this web site on 16 Oct 99 giving permission and encouragement for dissemination of this story. The reporter who wrote the story was said to have been issued a warning by the cattle association not to print any further articles; a deer hunter may also be dying of a TSE about 20 miles from Indiana victim’s home. Autopsy reports are not back yet; Ghetti and Gambetti are apparently the principal investigators involved in characterizing the cause of death. Even if the death is confirmed as CJD, no evidentiary link is established thereby to the beef brain sandwiches. While most Americans do not eat these, there are also a great many other German immigrants in the US.
This case is unlikely to be nvCJD because the UK strain of BSE is not plausbily present in Indiana beef brain. It is not known how other strains of BSE would manifest themselves pathologically or if they even exist at significant levels. Other dietary, medical, and genetic risk factors would also have to be evaluated. One thing has been affirmed: the American public is very suspicious of possible dietary exposure to TSE . — webmaster] “