- ATLANTA (Reuters) - A British scientist whose research linked mad cow
disease to a deadly strain of a brain-wasting disorder in humans said Wednesday
that cheap hamburger was to blame for the outbreak. Microbiologist John
Pattison, whose work led researchers to conclude a variant strain of Creutzfeldt-Jakob
Disease (CJD) in humans was tied to bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE)
in cattle, told Reuters ground beef was to blame for the deaths of 24 people
in the United Kingdom in late 1995 and early 1996. ``In the U.K., the big
outlets like Burger King and McDonalds actually use minced muscle meat
in their burgers,'' he said. ``But if you buy very cheap frozen burgers
or you buy something out of a van, I have no idea what's in those. ``At
the lower end of the market, it's very hard to know what's in the food.
That includes cheap hamburger, possibly the hot dog and some of our meat
pies. They're not governed by any sort of regulations or recipe or whatever,''
he said. Scientists from 70 countries were in Atlanta for a conference
on emerging infectious diseases, and Wednesday morning Pattison told them
he fears human-to-human spread of the CJD variant is possible through contaminated
blood transfusions. But he later told Reuters the greatest culprit of all
in transmission of the disease to humans is hamburger. The first cases
of variant CJD diagnosed involved teen-agers, leading scientists to wonder
what dietary preferences might contribute to the disease. Pattison said
cheap ground beef was the common bond. ``It's a common thing, really,''
he said. ``We have this huge drive toward cheap. The (profit) margins are
small. Some people make a living off of small margins by putting everything
in, every part of the animal. And, even though it's on the label, we buy
it anyway,'' he said. Pattison chairs Britain's Spongiform Encephalopathy
Advisory Committee. His recommendations led to the British government's
controversial ban of beef on the bone in December. Earlier in the day,
Pattison told fellow scientists that although variant CJD has not claimed
a single fatality in Britain since 1996, it could resurface through blood
transfusions. ``We continue to use whole blood products in the U.K,,''
he said. ``There is no thought being given to importing blood, because
there is a huge counterbalance to be considered involving other diseases
that would be far worse than the danger of CJD.'' It is not impossible
that CJD could be transmitted through the blood supply because it has a
long incubation period and consumption of the affected cattle did not stop
until 1996, he said. The first case of BSE was confirmed in Britain in
1986, a result of contaminated feed. Since then, 170,000 cattle have died
of the disease, according to Pattison's report. He said the likely culprits
in the continued BSE spread were family farmers who gave their cattle feed
intended for poultry and pigs. BSE cases among cattle have dropped dramatically
since meat products were banned from all feed, Pattison said, but it has
not been eliminated. ``The BSE epidemic is under control,'' he said, ``However,
there are still going to be about 1,500 to 2,000 cases in the U.K. this
year.''
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