Do you any of you worry about getting mad cow disease?

I really like McDonald's, but I think about mad cow then can't eat there. =(

I don't worry about it. I don't eat menudo

oh, constantly. i can't even think about austin without thinking about spongiform encephalopathy.

i didn't think menudo had brains in it. (this is where i need the little guy with the magnifying glass)

So hamburger meat doesn't have mad cow? Just stay away from brain and spinal cord?

the highest risk areas are the brain and spinal cord.

i thought menudo was made with the entrails, which wouldn't have any more of the pathogen than would any of the other, non-nervous system tissues.

I thought you could get it it from tripe. Oh well back to my CFS and eggs

the problem with mad cow, is that the pathogen isn't neutralized until the tissue reaches a temperature well over 1000 degrees. so normal cooking and even deep frying wouldn't kill it.

edit: i think eating meat from an infected animal has the possibility to infect you, but the worst areas are the brain and spinal cord.

[This message has been edited by schmendeler (edited 7/2/2005 10:35a).]

the meat from a mad cow wont hurt you unless brain or spinal goo has gotten onto it

I just know that the oldest, sickest cows become hamburger meat. Yuck. I would hope they don't ground up brain or spinal cord in that or hot dogs.

mmmm... spinal goooooo

you guys should really get educated about mad cow. first of all, there has never been any proof that mad cow can be passed to humans by meat. the human version is similar to the cow version but there is no evidence that they are actually linked. pure speculation and fear at this point.

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first of all, there has never been any proof that mad cow can be passed to humans by meat.

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That doesn't mean it can't happen. You'd be a fool to eat BSE infected meat, even if there's no proof.

The following treatments are available for vCJD:

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs180/en/

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Evidence of vCJD-BSE link

* The hypothesis of a link between vCJD and BSE was first raised because of the association of these two TSEs in time and place. More recent evidence supporting a link, includes identification of pathological features similar to vCJD in brains of macaque monkeys inoculated with BSE. A vCJD-BSE link is further supported by the demonstration that vCJD is associated with a molecular marker that distinguishes it from other forms of CJD and which resembles that seen in BSE transmitted to a number of other species. Studies of the distribution of the infectious agent in the brains of mice artificially infected with tissues from humans with vCJD and cows with BSE showed nearly identical patterns.
* The most recent and powerful evidence comes from studies showing that the transmission characteristics of BSE and vCJD in laboratory mice are almost identical, strongly indicating that they are due to the same causative agent.
* Intensive surveillance in 17 European countries has confirmed the high incidence of vCJD in the UK, the country with the largest potential exposure to BSE. France (with six reported cases) imported relatively large quantities of cattle products from the UK. The case in Ireland lived in the UK. Canada and the United States of America (all with extremely low potential exposure) have confirmed reports of vCJD attributed to exposures that occurred when the case lived in the UK. The Italian case did not live in the UK.
* For the final opinion of the European Union's Scientific Steering Committee on the Geographic Risk of BSE, please see the link at the bottom of this page.
* In conclusion, the most likely cause of vCJD is exposure to the BSE agent, most plausibly due to dietary contamination by affected bovine central nervous system tissue.

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I fear the mad cow.

Then how do people get the human versions?

I don't worry at all about it. Hell bring it on, it'll lower the price of my steak.

Cow mothers worry the most.

People can get it through eating any animal that has been infected (and any animal that they have tried to infect has been infected), additional, there are at several other TSE's that can just "spring up" in humans or hereditary, such as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease or CJD (The variant, CJDv, is thought to be caused by eating meat from an animal with a TSE), Gerstmann-Straussler-Scheinker syndrome (GSS), fatal familial insomnia (FFI), Kuru and Alpers syndrome.

just in case traveler needs more evidence:

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/vcjd/

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Since 1996, evidence has been increasing for a causal relationship between ongoing outbreaks in Europe of a disease in cattle, called bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE, or 'mad cow' disease), and vCJD. There is now strong scientific evidence that the agent responsible for the outbreak of prion disease in cows, BSE, is the same agent responsible for the outbreak of vCJD in humans. Both disorders are invariably fatal brain diseases with unusually long incubation periods measured in years, and are caused by an unconventional transmissible agent. However, this evidence also suggests that the risk is low for having vCJD, even after consumption of contaminated product. In 1996, because of the emergence of vCJD in the United Kingdom, CDC enhanced its surveillance for CJD in the United States.

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I work for the refrigeration contractor that handles all the work for Lone Star Beef in San Angelo where the mad cow was discovered. They are the primary supplier to McDonald's. The cow was not headed to the meat supply, but the overall lack of following USDA mandates is concerning.

I wanted a quarter-pounder with cheese.

Hmmm...considering I was an exchange student in Germany in 96-97, I'm no longer allowed to donate blood because they're afraid I may have contracted it while I was there, or something. If that's the case...I'll give into my steak craving and not give it a second thought!