- 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.
-
- _____
-
- 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
|
