Mad Cow Disease (BSE): Some Fun Facts-
*Attacks the central nervous system ultimately effecting the brain. Dementia and death are consider to be 100%. Manifests in all species the same way.
*The government finally banned the practice of feeding cows back cows when BSE struck Britian in the 90s.
*BSE symptoms don't typical manifest until the cow is five years of age. Most cattle don't live beyond 4 years (dairy) and 1-2 years (beef).
*Prions, or abnormally shaped proteins and the cause of BSE, are mostly found in the brain and spine of cows; however, they also can concentrate in the blood and muscle tissue.
*Baby cows are given replacer formula with spray dried cows blood as a protein filler instead of their mother's milk. They drink about 3 cups of the blood per day.
*It is not unusual for brain matter to end up in the trough that collects the blood.
*1 in 75,000 are tested for BSE
*It has been shown that BSE (the bovine version of this disease) can be spread between species and that the prions can persist.
***Example: Cows can be fed to pigs and horses who in return can be fed to cows. ***Furthermore, cows can be fed to chickens who in turn their feces are routinely fed back to cows.
*Remains infectious after being exposed to 680 degrees for an hour and can withstand antibiotics, bleach, formaldehyde and other detergents.
*This new version of CJD has a incubation period between 10 and 30 years.
*Between 1979 and 1998, 4,751 people died from CJD (human version of BSE); however, as Alzheimer's and strokes have the potential of being misdiagnosed and go without an autopsy, the number is variable at best.
*A study by Yale University shows that 13% of people that were diagnosed with Alzheimer's actually suffered from CJD
*4 million Americans currently are diagnosed with Alzheimer's
"The Food Revolution" by John Robbins