Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Not A Risk After Mad Cow Found, USDA Says
As we reported earlier today, a case of mad cow was found in a dairy animal in California, sending waves of panic across the burger-nomming population of the US.
Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease sounds less threatening when called by its more colloquial moniker, mad cow disease. And while the 90’s outbreak of the illness was confined to Britain, slaughterhouse conditions in the US have been a concern for food safety advocates for years after nearly 150 people succumbed to the fatal illness in the UK at the height of the panic.
Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, or mad cow disease, results from a dangerous prion that results in cattle populations from consuming infected sheep. When humans contract the illness, the ensuing illness (which is known also as bovine spongiform encephalopathy in cows) causes the brain to develop sponge-like holes, and dementia and certain death with weeks or months results.
The USDA- the same guys who told us that it’s okay to eat pink slime, have assured Americans that the cow found to be infected poses no risk to the food supply:
“It was never presented for slaughter for human consumption, so at no time presented a risk to the food supply or human health. Additionally, milk does not transmit BSE.”
In the cases of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD) in the UK, the median age of death was 28, compared to 68 in “classic” CJD cases.
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Kim LaCapria Kim LaCapria is a writer and editor based in New York. A longtime information junkie, she began blogging full-time at the Inquisitr in 2009. Prior to that, she worked as a marketing assistant in the cosmetics and skincare industry. In addition to her writing for fortytwotimes, she also writes for Medacity and The Inquisitr. Kim is also a contributor for SocialNewsDaily, Indyposted, and TotallyMoney. In the past, she contributed to Lipstick and Luxury and managed social media accounts and blogs for several small and mid-sized businesses.
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