MC Factoids: In Humans & Other Species

IN HUMANS

Posted 05/24/04]: "Dying For A Hamburger How Modern Meat-packing Led To An Epidemic Of Alzheimer's Disease:" "Dr. Murray Waldman, in collaboration with writer Marjorie Lamb, sets out to show that Alzheimer's is, indeed, a deadly modern plague. They present startling evidence that Alzheimer's is one of a family of diseases caused by a malformed protein - or prion - that also causes mad cow disease and its human variant, Cruetzfeld-Jakob disease (CJD). Could Alzheimer's, like CJD, be caused by tainted beef? In this compelling exposition, the authors come to a frightening conclusion about our seemingly insatiable hunger for hamburger. " Before about 1900 Alzheimer's disease did not exist, or if it did, was so rare as not to be noticed. But just over a hundred years ago, Alzheimer's disease was unknown, and most people did not know anyone who exhibited the symptoms of dementia that are now all too familiar to the families and friends of victims. Alzheimer's disease (AD) now afflicts 15 million people around the world, including 250,000 Canadians and 4.5 million Americans. One in 10 persons over 65 and nearly half of those over 85 have the disease. More significantly, the number of people with dementia is expected to increase steadily over the next 25 years: in Canada, 10,000 new cases of AD are diagnosed each year - 27 cases per day."
[Edited from the book summaries and the excerpt below:
http://www.mcclelland.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=0771087659
http://www.thebukowskiagency.com/DyingForAHamburger.htm

[Posted 05/23/04]:"Five CJD Deaths In North N.J. In 15 Months:" (03/24/04): "A 62-year old man in Northern New Jersey has died from a brain disorder that appears to be Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, which, if confirmed, would be the fifth case of the rare disease in a little over a year in a two-county area, United Press International has learned. The possible CJD cluster is associated with the Garden State Race Track in Cherry Hill, where as many as 13 CJD deaths might have occurred among employees and patrons who ate at the now defunct track. Both variant CJD and the spontaneously occurring form of the disease -- called sporadic CJD or simply CJD -- are incurable conditions that degenerate the brain and ultimately cause death. This would be an unusually high number for a uncommon disorder that is thought to occur at the rate of only one case per 1 million population per year. The combined population of the two counties is approximately 789,000, so they would expect to see no more than one case of sporadic CJD in that time frame. According to DHSS figures, which go back to 1979, the two counties have never experienced two CJD cases in the same year -- let alone five." [Very edited from:
http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20040323-051052-3359r

[Posted 04/28/04]: "Health Officials Probing CJD Cases In N.J.: (03/09/04): "Federal and New Jersey authorities appear to have bowed to pressure from Congress and are investigating a potential cluster of cases of a fatal brain disorder called Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in the southern part of the state, United Press International has learned. The investigation was spurred by the persistence of Janet Skarbek, a private citizen in Cinnaminson, N.J., who has been collecting information about local CJD cases for nearly a year. Skarbek has compiled a [statistically shocking] list of at least nine -- and as many as 13 -- CJD cases with ties to the Garden State Race Track in Cherry Hill.

Skarbek became concerned about the disease after Carol Olive, a woman with whom her mother had worked at the Race Track, died last May of CJD. As Skarbek's research turned up more cases of the rare disease, she began urging the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, and the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, to investigate. But both agencies dismissed her pleas, claiming there was no evidence of abnormally high occurrences of CJD in the state."
[Quite edited from: http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20040309-011038-7707rUSDA

[Posted 02/15/04]: (02/05/04): "Experts Predict More U.S. Cases Of Mad Cow: More American cattle probably are infected with mad-cow disease, and the federal government needs to expand its testing program and tighten feed rules to prevent the infection from spreading, a panel of international experts said yesterday. It's unlikely the single Holstein discovered in Washington state is the only sick animal ever imported into the country from Canada, and possibly Europe, panel members said at a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) meeting.
Since none of the other animals was detected, their infected tissues were almost certainly processed into cattle feed years ago, spreading and amplifying the disease "so that cattle in the U.S.A. have also been indigenously infected," says a report presented to Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman.

Panel chairman Ulrich Kihm, former chief veterinary officer of Switzerland, estimated that one new U.S. mad-cow case a month might appear, based on the experience of other European countries. Though the rate of infection is low, the government should consider several steps, including a ban on the use in human and animal food of brains, spinal cords and other high-risk tissue from animals older than one year, Kihm said. The panel also recommended a ban on the use of all mammal and bird protein in cattle feed.

Consumer advocates praised the report, which they said validated many of their criticisms of the U.S. mad-cow safety net. Industry reacted strongly against the report, and predicted the proposals, if adopted, would have substantial impacts on everyone involved in the beef business - from cattle growers earning less per animal to consumers paying more for less variety at the meat counter."
[Very edited from - more recommendations and issues at:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2001851143_madrecommend05m.html

[Posted 02/15/04]: (01/18/04): "How Safe Is Beef? U.S. Kept In Dark: Since the discovery of a mad-cow infected Holstein in Washington state, our public officials have been busy telling consumers that there is nothing to worry about. President Bush and Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman even made a point of serving beef at their holiday tables. But given how little we know about the scope of the contamination and the nature of the disease, such gestures are little more than acts of faith, not demonstrations of safety. The evidence that could demonstrate the safety -- or absence thereof -- of U.S. beef is in large part not being revealed by U.S. officials, and in some cases isn't even being collected. For starters, the Department of Agriculture -- a conflicted agency charged with simultaneously promoting the consumption of, and protecting consumers from, U.S. beef -- has yet to give us a transparent definition of what "safe" means when it comes to transmission of this brain-wasting disease, also known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), to humans.

Does "safe" mean there's no risk of contracting the disease, or merely a relatively small risk? What information is being used to determine the difference? Answers to these questions would first require an estimate of the number of cattle infected. This is not a number the USDA has released. ..... consumers -- and researchers -- would benefit from better information about exactly how BSE is transmitted from cow to human.

U.S. officials have consistently discounted and downplayed these indirect [non-beef consumption] avenues. In the Washington Post article on Dec. 23 that first reported the U.S. BSE-infection, Veneman was quoted as saying that BSE is "not known to be transmitted" through the consumption of these non-beef products. The secretary's statement is extremely misleading and gives consumers the mistaken impression that there is no risk associated with eating these foods. BSE is neither known nor not known to be transmitted through non-beef products. The truth is we have no idea.

Secretary Veneman and the beef industry have been quick to act on a handful of long-overdue, common-sense reforms. However, it's an outrage that there's no such urgency when it comes to collecting and releasing vital information that will allow the American public to make informed choices about the foods we eat. The American people deserve hard evidence and policy changes made in their best interests."
[Very very edited from the excellent essay at: http://www.sacbee.com/content/opinion/story/8123078p-9055134c.html

[Posted 02/15/04]: (01/18/04): "New Research Indicates Human Form Of Mad Cow More Complex Than First Thought: New research suggests that the human form of mad cow disease is a lot more complicated than originally thought, and, potentially, much scarier. Scientists have long agreed that eating cattle tissue infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy - mad cow disease - can cause the human form of the disease, known as variant Creutzfeld-Jacob disease. But recent animal tests indicate that eating infected beef may also cause another form of the disease, classical CJD, forcing scientists to re-examine assumptions about the nature of the deadly disease and raising fears that it may be more widespread than previously thought.

The accepted wisdom has been that classical CJD has nothing to do with mad cows. It affects older people, those over 55, and generally occurs spontaneously at the rate of about one person per million per year. It has been confused with Alzheimer's disease and there is some concern that because of misdiagnosis, it may be more widespread than the confirmed numbers indicate. The question is, could an epidemic of classical CJD be lying dormant in the brains of people who have eaten infected cattle products - specifically products containing brain or spinal cord matter?"
[Edited from:
http://www.canoe.com/CNEWS/Canada/2004/01/18/317283-cp.html
http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/328/7432/118

[Posted 02/15/04]: (01/16/04): "Action Urged To Stop Human 'Mad Cow' In UK Blood: In a letter published in the British Medical Journal, a senior member of the UK's Medical Research Council calls for urgent action to prevent the spread of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) -- the human form of mad cow disease -- through blood transfusions. Last month, UK health secretary John Reid announced the first case of vCJD that is believed to have to have occurred through blood donation. In light of this event, Dr. Sheila M. Bird, a statistician with the MRC, emphasizes that "we now need to take steps" to spell out the rights and responsibilities of people who have received blood and blood products that were possibly contaminated with vCJD, as well as those of the rest of the population.

In her letter, Dr. Bird outlines several steps that can be taken to prevent further human-to-human spread of vCJD.... Until more is known about bloodborne transmission, she concludes, "we must hope for the best and protect against the worst."
[Edited from:
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=healthNews&storyID=4150456
[Their source: BMJ 2004;328:118-119 (17 January)

[Posted 02/15/04]: (01/17/04): "Mad Cow In Milk?: The one dairy cow infected with Mad Cow Disease from a Washington herd, whose milk was pooled with 3,000 others from that same herd, had the potential to infect every American thousands of times over. Her "pooled" milk was distributed on the West Coast. Her infected milk was made into cheese and butter and ice cream, and shipped from the West Coast to the East Coast, and to all points."
[From the Robert Cohen essay building on the above BMJ Editorial:
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/notmilk/message/1530