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Some US Slaughter Houses
Specialize In Downer Cattle!

From Patricia Doyle, PhD
dr_p_doyle@hotmail.com
12-26-03



It is not widely known but there are a number of slaughter houses in the US which *specialize* in butchering downer cattle...one assumes there is a price discount for retailers who can CHOOSE to purchase the flesh of downer cattle. Or, they can opt to purchase only meat from 'regular' cattle...or they can 'mix and match' and buy both.
 
This largely unknown practice is made even more important by the information in the ProMed statements by the veterinarian and other sources below. -ed
 
 
Hello, Jeff - I had to reread the following post from a veterinarin on the Promed site as I could not believe Promed, the MAINSTREAM SCIENCE site, would post it...
 
Exerpt: "It makes me more than a little nervous to find out that obviously sick animals are still sent for slaughter to enter the human food chain. I believed (apparently in error) that sick animals were withheld from human consumption, for protection from more than just BSE exposure. I am also not completely satisfied that BSE cannot be passed in cuts of beef, since muscle tissue may contain small amounts of nerve and lymphatic tissue.
 
Raymond Weinstein, MD George Mason University Manassas, Va.
 
____
 
 
Jeff - Why are downer cows entering the food chain AT ALL? A cow that cannot walk on its own should NEVER HAVE BEEN USED FOR FOOD CONSUMPTION OF ANY KIND, ANIMAL OR HUMAN FOOD!
 
The cow was OBVIOUSLY INFECTED WITH BSE and the farmer wanted the money before prudence.
 
Patricia Doyle _____
 
BSE, BOVINE - USA (WASHINGTON STATE)
 
A ProMED-mail post http://www.promedmail.org ProMED-mail, a program of the International Society for Infectious Diseases http://www.isid.org
 
[1] Date: 25 Dec 2003 From: ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org> Source: USDA <http://www.usda.gov/news/releases/2003/12/0442.htm>
 
USDA BSE Update
 
The test samples were received at the laboratory in Waybridge, England early Christmas morning. The UK veterinary pathologists concur with our interpretation of the Dec. 22 positive test conducted by USDA pathologists at the National Veterinary Services Laboratory (NVSL) in Ames Iowa. USDA Chief Veterinarian Ron. DeHaven considers this concurrence to be confirmatory of our finding of a positive BSE case. The Waybridge lab will conduct a series of additional confirmatory tests and we fully anticipate they will be consistent with the earlier finding from similar tests conducted at NVSL. -- ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org>
 
[2] Date: 25 Dec 2003 From: Raymond Weinstein, MD <AlaskaRay@aol.com> Subject: Re: PRO/AH/EDR> BSE, bovine - USA (WA) (03)
 
[Promed writes: The disease was found in a Holstein cow, which could not move on its own, from a farm in Mabton, Wash., about 40 miles southeast of Yakima in the State of Washington. It tested preliminarily positive on Dec. 9. Parts of the cow that would be infected -- the brain, the spinal cord and the lower part of the small intestine -- were removed before the animal went to a meat processing plant.]
 
It makes me more than a little nervous to find out that obviously sick animals are still sent for slaughter to enter the human food chain. I believed (apparently in error) that sick animals were withheld from human consumption, for protection from more than just BSE exposure. I am also not completely satisfied that BSE cannot be passed in cuts of beef, since muscle tissue may contain small amounts of nerve and lymphatic tissue. -- Raymond Weinstein, MD <AlaskaRay@aol.com> George Mason University Manassas, Va.
 
[There are a number of papers out regarding the issue of prions being found in muscle. Some of those references are listed below. Indeed, since prions are believed to be associated with neural tissue, then it stands to reason prions can travel along any nerve path. However, higher concentrations are in the brain and spinal cord.
 
One needs to understand the fundamentals of US Slaughter facilities to comprehend the situation.
 
Cattle are humanely stunned with a captive bolt stunner that penetrates or piths the brain rendering the animal unable to feel pain. However, the animal is not dead. Depending upon the speed of the slaughter plant the animal remains alive, but unable to comprehend or feel pain, for an average of 2 to 7 minutes before the throat is cut, exsanguinating the animal.
 
(Note - I suggest anyone who actually believes this read the book 'Slaughterhouse' by Gail Eisnitz. - ed)
 
During that 2 to 7 minutes the neurological tissue that captive bolt compressed into the brain and into the blood stream can circulate throughout the body, as long as the heart beats. The prion is smaller than a red blood cell. Therefore, it would appear that the prion agent can be in muscle tissue. (The Lancet, Sep 14, 1996, Letter to the Editor).
 
Additional Referencens: Brazier MW, Cappai R, Collins SJ; Prions in skeletal muscle. Aust Vet J. 2002 Aug;80(8):484-5.
 
Bosque PJ, Ryou C, Telling G, Peretz D, Legname G, DeArmond SJ, Prusiner SB.; Prions in skeletal muscle. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2002 Mar 19;99(6):3812-7.
 
Caughey B, Chesebro B.; Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies and prion protein interconversions. Adv Virus Res. 2001;56:277-311.
 
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ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org>
 
 
Patricia A. Doyle, PhD Please visit my "Emerging Diseases" message board at: http://www.clickitnews.com/ubbthreads/postlist.php?Cat=&Board=emergingdiseases Zhan le Devlesa tai sastimasa Go with God and in Good Health
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