More Mad Mad Mad as a Cow

Now here's the first time I've heard of this explanation (NYTIMES):

In response to questions, Dr. John Clifford, the Agriculture Department's chief veterinarian, revealed another surprise: the animal's disease strain did not closely resemble the British-style strain found in the first mad cow, which was born in Canada and raised in Washington State.

Instead, it was closer to a strain found in France - a result, another scientist said, that suggested that the infection had come from a different pool of infected feed, possibly imported from France.

So we now are being told that PRION infected feed (which must have included ground up PRION infected cow brains or spinal cord - which is ILLEGAL in the U.S.) was imported into the U.S.!

I assume this contaminaed feed reached, and was consumed by more than just one cow.

Cows with BSE (Mad Cow) don't always live long enough to become symptomatic. And what with the state of food processing plants in the U.S. today the actual application of safeguards against preventing brain, and spinal cord matter from ending up in the nations foods supply is highly questionable.

One sick cow could contaminate, and kill thousands of people with one of the most horrible, and deadly diseases known.

Taiwan resumed its ban on U.S. beef after news of this second infected cow was released.

Frighteningly, I must assume that infected cows remain in the nation's food supply, and that a coverup is taking place. The coverup is one of design, using test that are not sensitive enough to reveal the disease in contaminated beef, delaying tactics (it took seven months to order an accurate test be performed in Britain) & spin (More from NYTIMES article):

"I enjoyed beef this noon for lunch," Mr. Johanns [Agriculture Secretary] said. "It is the safest beef in the world."

This coverup will work as people contract BSE - but will collapse when consumers start showing symptoms, and people start dying. It can take a decade or more for this to happen. In the mean time the administration in charge of protecting the U.S. consumer has instead given the Beef Industry the keys to the USDA.

Unlike the NYTIMES story, which I referrenced in this post, the CNN.com story mentioned none of this, so I'm assuming they couldn't care less - until hospital beds begin to fill with spastic bodies drooling and gasping for last breaths, and until the sobbing families of victims start to make the story look sexy enough to spend airtime on.

This seems to be a sensible recommendation from the Consumer's Union - but the Beef Industry probably doesn't want to do this due to cost - what do you think the cost will be in a few years when people refuse to eat beef?

Keys: The Village of Jerome, Springfield, Central, Illinois, Local, State, Political, Commentary