Information Related to "Mad Cow Disease: The Fear Alone Is Costly"
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Concerns over mad cow disease are growing rapidly with the discovery of infected animals in France and Germany. The EU and the U.S. have stepped up control measures, but is it too late to contain the strange and cruel illness that could turn into an international catastrophe? by Cecil E. Maranville The name "mad cow disease" sounds like someone's idea of a joke-or a B movie title-but there's nothing humorous about it. It's both an international trade issue and health concern. "Mad cow disease" or simply, "mad cow" is the media's shorthand for BSE, an acronym for "bovine spongiform encephalopathy"-"bovine" for cattle, "encephalopathy" for brain disease and "spongiform" for the dreadful effect that it has on the brain. A protein called a "prion" causes holes, like those in a sponge, to develop in the brain, eventually causing death. Some scientists believe this could be an entirely new type of disease, the scourge of the new millennium. A prion is neither a virus nor bacteria, meaning it cannot be killed or contained by methods familiar to today's medical science. BSE is part of the transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) family of diseases. After some hesitation, the EU has finally taken the step of banning animal feed that contains ground-up bones, entrails and other animal by-products, including blood. The EU fears BSE will spread uncontrolled to the continent from Britain, threatening not only livestock, but also people. Read the full article at www.wnponline.org/wnp/wnp0103/cow.htmRelated Information on UCG Sites: Key Subjects Index General Topics Index Biblical References Index Good News Magazine Index Booklets and All Literature Index Home Page of this site |
