A political ? about Mad Cow

[SaskMan]

Yesterday the USDA announced a confirmed case of Mad Cow in the U.S. Despite whatI'm sure were many efforts they could not trace this one to Canada, it was a born and raised U.S cow USDA spokeman stated on the news last night that in no way did this change the border situtation on Canadian cows and that US beef is in fact safe to eat. So my ? is this......if US beef is safe to eat, even with a confirmed case of mad cow, why then is Canadian beef unsafe and why does the border remain closed putting our cattlemen in what has already been a long term crisis situation????

[fisherguy]

Isn't it odd..they have had the same # of cases of mad cow now. Sort of like Japan...their border remains closed, but what nobody hears is that they have had dozens of cases of mad cow. It is all political, and now they are going to have to admit that.

[horst]

Isnt it ironic that the same government thats closing the borders due to mad cow are actually encouraging people to kill and eat mor deer out of CWD infected zones then ever before

It just boils down to politics and money near as I can tell, banning cattle imports has to boost the US sales of cattle and with less being sold prices are bound to be higher.

[wtnhunt]

Think that from what I understand so long as the meat whether it be cwd in deer or mad cow in beef, is so long as it is thoroughly cooked the infection would not be transmitted and it would be safe to eat.

As for the borders, not sure whats up with that, but Chris is probably right on track with what he said about politics.

[markyj987]

We're still not allowing Canadian beef into the states? I honestly thought that it was just temporary and the restrictions would've been lifted by now.

It probably is political...and I almost wonder if the Bush Administration was trying to use at as political leverage for the Canadian government to tighten its immigration policies. Or it could be something else altogether, but that's one theory that comes to mind.

The fat and cholesterol from a Canadian New York Strip steak is gonna kill me just as dead as Mad Cow eventually...so I'd take my chances. lol

I'm not sure if cooking would actually prevent it, William. If I remember correctly, Mad Cow is caused by prions, which are essentially mutated proteins--and not a virus or bacterium. Perhaps I'm wrong about that...the article I read about that was quite some time ago.

Either way, if you don't eat the brain or nervous system tissue, you should be okay. I think the bigger threat is to the cattle population than human health. Imagine the impact that would have if Mad Cow wiped out even 10 or 15% of the population?

[wtnhunt]

You are right Mark, but the fears and concerns in people are more about their own health. With the media not properly educating people, there are concerns about eating possibly infected meats. Pretty sure I read somewhere that it was suggested eating possibly infected meat from a deer with cwd could only cause thinking it was jacobsens disease if the meat was not properly prepared or fully cooked. There were supposedly some cases of this I think in Wisconsin or Michigan some years back.

On the beef, I vaguely remember reading or hearing something about that too, but maybe it was not cwd that was pertaining to, and it may very well have been something I heard on the news. Cannot remember anyway, 1 or 2 cases out of millions of head of cattle should not be causing a panic or fears. Guess the media will do as they always do and blow this out of proportion and generally mislead the public.

As far as the method of transmission it is suggested not to feed cattle any feed that has any animal biproducts PERIOD. Although we have never purchased or used any I understand that some feeds use ground up parts from animals and this may be where these isolated cases have possibly come from.

[stevebeilgard]

it's only politics, guys. and the political decisions to close the borders to canadian beef is about to kick the politicians in the butt. u.s. beef will be closed off due to the exact reasons the u. s. stated. it will hurt us, and help the rest of the world. but, don't count on it making the politicians hurt any.

[horst]

[ QUOTE ]
Pretty sure I read somewhere that it was suggested eating possibly infected meat from a deer with cwd could only cause thinking it was jacobsens disease if the meat was not properly prepared or fully cooked.

[/ QUOTE ]

There was 2 guys that came down with rare brain illnesses, one was jacobsens and the second guy had something else.The only link was they hunted together and ate the same food at wild game feeds , when the media started blowing CWD outta proportion the families came forward and stated that it was the cause of both mens illnesses.There was never any actual proof or any way to link it to eating the deer though.It coulda just as easily been one of those wierd coincidences that happen.A lotta people ate the same meat they did and had no affects from it.

[slugshooter]

[ QUOTE ]
There was 2 guys that came down with rare brain illnesses, one was jacobsens and the second guy had something else.The only link was they hunted together and ate the same food at wild game feeds , when the media started blowing CWD outta proportion the families came forward and stated that it was the cause of both mens illnesses.There was never any actual proof or any way to link it to eating the deer though.It coulda just as easily been one of those wierd coincidences that happen.A lotta people ate the same meat they did and had no affects from it.

[/ QUOTE ]

Kinda like the deal where Michael J. Fox and several people that worked on a TV show he was in when he was a kid in Canada came down with Parkinsons. Most likely just a big coincidence. All I ever hear is that deer that have been infected with CWD are OK to eat, even though the person might not want to, just because.

[Texan_Til_I_Die]

Well, I just heard on the radio that the infected cow was found in Texas at a pet food processing plant near Waco. That's just great, I'm sitting in Waco now. Can't wait to get home and tell all of my rancher buddies about this...