It's now our turn: First U.S. mad cow case confirmed

[Shogun Gunner]

Well, if we all agree the beef is safe, then we can look forward to lower beef prices! Yah!

[Peter Triggs]

Total number of deaths as a result of vCJD in the UK as of 1st December 2003 = 101, with another 36 deaths believed, but not proven beyond doubt, to be caused by vCJD.

First reported deaths (3 of them) were in 1995.

137 deaths in 9 years = 15 deaths per year on average. Nothing to start getting frantic about, but still that's fifteen more than you'd want.

Yearly deaths from vCJD increased until they reached a peak of 28 in 2000. They've been steadily falling since then - there were 16 this year.

The 'experts' started scaring people off beef in 1987, when Mad Cow Disease began getting media attention. In 1990, Professor Richard Lacey predicted (on television) that five million people in the UK were likely to die from CJD as a result of eating beef. I'm still waiting for city council wagons to come rolling by every morning (think Bubonic Plague) to cries of 'Bring out your dead.'

[FrustratedPoet]

Originally posted by Drake Tungsten
Who put that Korea reference in my quote? I'll kill the man who implied that I live in Korea!

I went to Japan (Fukuoka ... Hehehe ... F**k) a couple of weeks ago. Kind of pricey, but at least there was soccer on TV and the Italian restaurants served half-decent red wine. Might go to Tokyo sometime if we can afford it.

[Drake Tungsten]

If you think Fukuoka was expensive, wait until you get to Tokyo.

[Bosh]

Well ****, they've banned the import of US beef here. US beef is 40% of the beef consumed in Korea so that means my chances of getting an even vaguely affordable steak look pretty thin

[Drake Tungsten]

I feel your pain...

[Richelieu]

Australian bulls are ****ing like crazy right now.

[Alex]

It's from a Brazilian site, but it is "spoken" in English...

http://charges.uol.com.br/vercharge.php?idcharge=1244&modo=som

[Drake Tungsten]

I KNEW IT!!!!

**** you, Alberta!!!
 

U.S. thinks infected cow came from Canada

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Holstein diagnosed with mad cow disease may have entered the United States from the Canadian province of Alberta in 2001 with 73 other cows, an official with the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Saturday.

Ron DeHaven, the USDA's chief of veterinary medicine, said Canadian records show the herd would have entered the United States at Eastport, Idaho. The cow was part of a herd in Washington state before being sent to slaughter.

He said investigators have matched an ear tag retrieved from the sick cow at the slaughterhouse to records from a Canadian cow.

Dr. Brian Evans, chief veterinary officer with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, said Canadian and U.S. investigators differ on the cow's age.

The owner of the herd in Washington told federal authorities that the cow was 4 to 4-1/2 years old, but Canadian records show that the suspect cow from the Canadian herd was born in 1997, making it at least 6 years old, DeHaven said.

The cow that became ill had had three calves, one of which died at birth, DeHaven said.

Canadians say their cow had only two calves.

Tests to analyze the cow's DNA and determine its herd will not be known for about a week, Evans said.

"We do not have a definitive diagnosis of this particular animal," Evans added in a conference call with reporters.

In Canada's first mad cow case in a decade, an 8-year-old cow that was slaughtered in January after showing signs of illness tested positive for BSE in May. Tests in England confirmed signs of mad cow disease. Eighteen farms were quarantined, but no additional cases were discovered.

After the diagnosis, the United States banned imports of beef from Canada. The ban was partially lifted in September.

DeHaven said investigators are uncertain whether they have located the birth herd, which would allow them to test other animals. The tests for mad cow disease, also known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), cannot be done on a living animal.

"These animals were all dairy cattle and entered the U.S. only about two or two-and-a-half years ago, so most of them are still likely alive," DeHaven said.

He emphasized that the other 73 animals in the sick cow's herd would not necessarily be infected.

The brain-wasting mad cow disease is usually transmitted through contaminated feed and has an incubation period of four to five years.

Mad cow disease is linked to a similar form of the incurable and fatal brain-wasting disease in humans, called variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, or vCJD.

There have been a small number of cases of vCJD reported worldwide, primarily in the United Kingdom, in people who ate BSE-contaminated meat.

At least 100 people have died of vCJD, and outbreaks of BSE have led to large declines in beef consumption.

Mad cow disease first appeared in the United Kingdom in the mid-1980s, and millions of cattle were slaughtered.

Many nations have banned beef imports from the United States, including Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Australia, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Russia, Mexico and China.

http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/12/27/mad.cow/index.html

Well, we've had a nice run with you guys as our neighbors, but sending your diseased animals across into our yard was the last straw. The bombing begins within the hour. Goodbye...

[Q Classic]

Times have changed, our kids are getting worse
They won't obey their parents they just want to fart and curse
Should we blame the government?
Or blame society?
Or should we blame the images on TV?

No! Blame Canada, blame Canada
With all thier beedy little eyes
have packed thier heads so full of lies,
blame Canada, blame Canada,
we need to form a full assault
its Canada's fault

Don't blame me for my son Stan,
he saw the darn cartoon and
now he's of to join the Klan

And my boy Eric
once had my picture on his shelf
but now when I see him he tells me to **** myself

Well? Blame Canada, blame Canada,
it seems that everythings gone wrong
since Canada came along,
blame Canada, blame Canada
They're not even a real country anyway

My son could have been a doctor or a lawyer
rich and true instead he burned up like a piggy on a barbeque
Should we blame the matches? Should we blame the fire?
Or the doctors who allowed him to expire ?

Heck no! Blame Canada, blame Canada,
with all their hockey hollabaloo
And that ***** Ann Murray too
Blame Canada, shame on Canada,
for the smut we must stuff the
trash we must stash the laughter and ****
must all be undone
we must blame them
the cause of fuss before
somebody thinks of blaming us

[Sarxis]

Beat me to it.

But everyone loses with Mad Cows.

[Mr. Harley]

Please note, the US Cattleman's association has successfully defeated bans on slaughtering cattle unable to stand multiple times, including one that worked it's way through the Senate this year. Those cattle have brain tissue samples tested, which is how the case was caught. The last number I heard was 21,000 of these cattle this year. What is the value of those 21,000 low grade animals versus the cost of BSE to our exports. I believe the old saying applies - be careful what you wish for!

[Drake Tungsten]

The American cattle industry may get out of this alright, as it seems to all be Canada's fault...

Cow's link to Canada may save beef trade

WASHINGTON - In an announcement that brought measured relief from researchers and industry experts, federal authorities said Saturday that they believed that a dairy cow infected with mad cow disease came to the United States in 2001 as part of a herd of 74 from Alberta, Canada.

The infected animal, said Dr. Ron DeHaven, chief veterinarian for the Department of Agriculture, entered the country through Eastport, Idaho, before being transported to Washington state in October 2001.

"This puts a different perspective on things," DeHaven said during a press conference Saturday. The announcement may relieve worries of U.S. consumers and members of the nation's cattle industry about mad cow disease, also known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy.

Investigators are working to track down the other 73 cattle that came into the country with the diseased animal. But investigators emphasized that the likelihood of widespread infection among the herd was low.

"Just because this one positive animal entered the U.S. in a group of 74 animals," DeHaven said, "that does not suggest that all, or even one more, of those animals is necessarily infected with BSE. Needless to say, out of an abundance of caution, our efforts will, nevertheless, focus on tracing out every one of those animals."

Some says the fact that the animal came from outside the United States and entered the country after a 1997 law banning the use of leftover animal parts in cow feed significantly reduces the likelihood of a widespread outbreak of the disease.

"This is good news," said George Gray, executive director of the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis, which has conducted several reports on the possible spread of mad cow disease in the United States for the Agriculture Department. "It doesn't tell us that something is wrong with our system. And if the rules in place are followed, this disease shouldn't spread."

If the origin of the infected American cow is confirmed to be Canada, "it will no doubt have some pretty severe ramifications for our industry," said Rod Scarlett, executive director of Wild Rose Agricultural Producers, a farm group based in Edmonton, Alberta.

About 60 percent of Canadian beef and live cattle are exported, and the United States is by far the biggest market. Exports of cattle and beef were halted entirely for three months after a lone case of mad cow disease was discovered on a ranch in northern Alberta last May.

The United States partly opened the border in August for some cuts of beef, and the Department of Agriculture is considering lifting the ban on live cattle under 30 months old.

If U.S. and Canadian officials confirm that the sick cow in Washington state came from Canada, it might save the export market for the American beef industry because the United States could keep its disease-free status and continue trade.

The National Cattlemen's Beef Association urged foreign importers to reopen their markets to U.S. beef in light of Saturday's announcement. In a written statement, the trade group said that, if necessary, new federal regulations allow other countries to separate beef of Canadian origin from U.S. beef.

Still, Gray and others said the news also emphasized the need for stricter adherence to laws in place and the addition of new laws to further reduce the possibility of spreading the disease among animals and into humans.

"Our international systems are so integrated," said Dr. Linda Detwiler, a veterinarian who retired from the Agriculture Department in August, "that it is still very prudent for the industry and the government to look at additional safeguards for the country."

Authorities had earlier suggested that it might take weeks, even months, to track the origins of the diseased cow. DeHaven said the discovery, earlier than expected, was the result of "hard leather, shoe leather type of work," that included cooperation with herd owners, livestock dealers and market operators as well as detailed record searches between U.S. and Canadian agencies.

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_np=0&u_pg=46&u_sid=958699

Looks like it's time to close the border to Canadian cattle again and actually maintatin the ban this time. They just about brought the whole U.S. beef industry to its knees.

[notyoueither]

Originally posted by Drake Tungsten
**** you, Alberta!!!

Well, we've had a nice run with you guys as our neighbors, but sending your diseased animals across into our yard was the last straw. The bombing begins within the hour. Goodbye...

It was a special, stealth sleeper cow. You should have listened to Ralph when he asked nicely for you to reopen the border to our cattle.

We have other cows in place, and also have stealth sleeper versions of many other animals in strategic locations spread around the United States.

You will receive our demands shortly.

PS. Since none of you could find Canada on a Map of Canada which includes the Northern States, we're those islands just to the right of Iceland. Come and get us.

[Drake Tungsten]

PS. Since none of you could find Canada on a Map of Canada which includes the Northern States, we're those islands just to the right of Iceland. Come and get us.

Like we could ever confuse you French backstabbers with our former masters and current lapdogs...